The Origin of the Unbreakable Bond
by sonicfan1990
Summary: The story of how Tails and Sonic met. Sorry about the last version. This time I break it into different chapters for everyone's convenience. Anyway, enjoy. Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic or anything related to him. Sonic belongs to SEGA.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The life of an outcast

Cocoa Island, a beautiful island once famous for its numerous active volcanoes and breath-taking sceneries, was reduced to nothing more than what one would consider a wasteland. Compared to its magnificent beauty the island once possessed, it was now a ruin, an uninhabitable environment. All of this destruction was caused when the Battle Bird Armada, a group of vicious birds equipped with state-of-the-art weaponries, came to the island in search of the Chaos Emeralds, an unfathomably powerful source of limitless energy. In order to complete their objective, the ruthless armada practically laid waste to everything in sight, be it organic or inorganic.

They destroyed the forests, burned down trees, blew up mountains, massacred the innocent, and many more hideous and unspeakable misdeeds. All hopes seemed lost to the inhabitants of the island as the Armada's violence ravaged the landscape, sparing nothing in their mad search. No one on the island was brave enough to tackle the threats of the malicious and murderous birds, and they just let them do as they pleased. However, there was one inhabitant who didn't give up, he refused to give up. It was the strangest of all who lived on Cocoa, a small, fluffy yellow fox who went by the name of Miles Prower, but other people called him Tails, due to his unusual and unique genetic mutation, his twin appendages.

Even when the odds were stacked against Tails, he fought bravely and relentlessly against the menacing birds. He went through situations that would have sent the strongest of fighters to their early demise, and sentenced the bravest of warriors to their deaths. Yet, Tails fought alone, without a single comrade. He used his special gifts with machinery to create useful creations that assisted him in his quest, one among the numerous was a little robotic fox, which he affectionately called T-pup.

Tails also used his unique ability to aid him in his battles. He could spin his twin tails together until they created enough force that allowed him to fly, like a helicopter's blades. His flight ability, along with his genius-level intellect and mechanical creations, allowed him to prevail. The Armada's attacks were fierce, their firepower greatly intimidated the fox, but with unwavering determination and bravery, he defeated the Battle Lord and his son, Speedy, undermining their plans and put an end to the fearsome Armada once and for all. Tails alone saved the entire island from destruction. He was, in every sense, a hero.

However, the inhabitants of Cocoa Island thought otherwise. They blamed the entire incident on Tails, because he was the one that had found a Chaos Emerald deep inside the forest and took it home. To them, Tails was the cause of all that had transpired. To make matters worse, the inhabitants never liked Tails because of his twin tails. They considered him a freak, a mistake of Mother Nature, something that shouldn't have been born. Tails had always lived in solitude, ignorance and prejudice. The people always beat him up, bullied him, neglected him, and mistreated him, just because of something he couldn't help. Life had always been unfair to the young genius. He was always alone, accompanied by his creations, mainly T-pup, his pet robot.

Ever since the incident of the Battle Bird Armada, Tails' life had taken a turn for the worse. The bullying and beating became more intense and more often. The people blamed Tails for everything, the destruction of the island, the deaths of their loved ones, everything. They even went as far as destroying the kid's cabin and lab, smashing all of his creations that he had put all his heart and soul into creating. Tails was stuck in a nightmare, but unlike other nightmares, this was one he could never wake up from, no matter how much he wanted to.

Eventually, even Tails' seemingly endless patience ran out. He couldn't stand living like that anymore, he couldn't put up with the people anymore.

"Why are they doing this to me, T-pup?" Tails asked his little, and sole surviving, robot, "The Chaos Emerald was here, so those birds would have come here in the first place. Why are they *sobs* doing this to me? I just don't understand."

Tails burst into tears after that sentence, releasing all his pent-up frustration and pain. After crying for a long while, he finally calmed down and looked at T-pup.

"We can't live like this any longer," Tail said with a resolve in his voice, "We have to get out of the island. Nobody cares about us, heck, they'll even be glad to know that I'm no longer around." He let out a sigh and continued, "They may have destroyed my lab, but they didn't look underground. The Sea Fox should have enough fuel to take us away from here."

After saying that, a smile crossed his muzzle, he forced his battered and wounded body to stand up. Tails picked up T-pup and flew back to the debris he had once called his home, and opened a secret door leading to his secret lab underground, where he kept the Sea Fox, his personal submarine that he had built by himself. The Sea Fox was a powerful invention that played a integral role in undermining the Armada's plans. Tails took out a map, checked the Sea Fox's remaining fuel, and calculated the distance from Cocoa to other nearby islands. After a few minutes, he had already mapped out his course. Tails circled an island on the map that was called Westside Island. It was the only island the Sea Fox could reach with all the fuel it had remaining.

Putting the map away, Tails jumped into the cockpit with T-pup, and started the engine. "Let's go, T-pup. To freedom!" Tails exclaimed as he raised his fist in the air in a childish manner. With that, the Sea Fox set sail. Tails was happy and sad at the same time. He was happy because he wouldn't need to put up with all the needless bullying anymore, but he was sad because he had to leave his home island, the one that he had risked his life to protect from the vicious invaders. Shedding a single tear at the thought, Tails quickly dismissed it, as quickly as it had occurred to him, and started to make his way to Westside Island. Hopefully, his new life would be much brighter than the one he had had to endure thus far. Tails was full of hope that he might be able to make some new friends on his new home.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Westside Island

After a rather long and tiring voyage, Tails managed to reach his destination safe and sound.

"Here we are, T-pup. Welcome to Westside Island." He exclaimed excitedly.

Tails had heard about Westside Island before. It was a very beautiful island with scenic wonders. To people around the world, Westside Island could be considered a paradise. The people there were also known for their hospitality and kindness. The weather was always great all year round, the foods were superb. Everything about the island was good, if not perfect. Tails was hopeful that his life on this new island would be good, at least better than what he had been through. The thought alone was enough to excite the kid. He pulled the Sea Fox to shore and got out.

Tails had reached the far side of the island, where only nature could be seen within eyeshot. The Sea Fox had already run out of fuel and ceased to function, due to all the damage it had sustained during Tails' struggles against the Armada's fleets. However, the submarine's main engine was still working, but it wouldn't do Tails any good. The Sea Fox had just finished her final voyage and was retired permanently. Tails looked at the Sea Fox one last time with sadness in his eyes.

"Thanks for everything, old friend." Tails said, his voice was shaky like he was about to cry, but managed to fight off the tears. "I'll never forget you."

After that, Tails bided the Sea Fox goodbye. To Tails, every single one of his creation was important, and he tended to look at them as his friends, his family instead of tools to be used, and it broke the kid's heart to part with any of them. Tails was reluctant to leave the Sea Fox behind, but he didn't have much of a choice. He turned to T-pup and motioned his hand to the robotic fox, and the little robot obeyed. The two of them started walking toward the forest.

Tails had spent most, if not all of his childhood, in the forests of Cocoa Island, and he was experienced when it came to navigating his ways through the green maze. Using his experience and incredible memory, Tails quickly got out of the forest at a record time. In front of the young cub was a new view, a city. It was much bigger than the city on Cocoa Island. Smiling to himself, Tails grabbed T-pup and quickly ran toward the city, clearly ready and excited to start his new life at his new home.

Little did the young fox cub know what awaited him at this new landscape, and he soon found out that hopes and reality weren't always the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Broken dreams

As Tails was walking down the main street of the new city, he could feel the icy glares from the people he passed by, the likes of which that reminded so much of the people on Cocoa Island, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He thought they stared at him because he was a new face, nothing more. The glares, however, did make the fox a little nervous, because they were directed at his backside, mainly his two fluffy tails, which were obviously anything but normal.

Trying his best to ignore the people staring at him, Tails continued to walk, with T-pup still in his hands. He shook his head vigorously to shrug off the thought that these people were just like the ones back home, and that they hated him. T-pup looked at his creator with watchful eyes, sensing the boy's anxiety.

"Don't worry, T-pup," Tails said with a big smile on his face as he noticed T-pup's gaze, "I'm fine, just a little tired and hungry from the long trip, that's all. No biggie."

There was truth in those words, however, for the kid had travelled a long way from Cocoa Island and the last time he hadn't had a decent meal since the Battle Birds incident. Tails was hungry, starving to be exact. He looked around and spotted a small chili dog stand around the corner. His eyes lit up and he made a mad dash toward the stand like a little kid running to a candy store.

Tails stood in front of the chili dog stand and carefully looked at the price, and then counted the money he had with him. Tails didn't have much money, he used his mechanical expertise to fix up broken household appliances and machines back on Cocoa, so he had managed to save up a bit of cash. Fortunately for the kid, he had just enough money to buy one chili dog. It wasn't much of a meal, but to the tired and starving little fox, it was everything.

"Excuse me, mister; can I have one chili dog, please? Tails said to the owner of the stand, who was busy with something else. He was a huge bear, as Tails could see. Hearing the kid's voice, the bear turned around. "Sure thing, kid. One chili dog coming righ…"

The bear stopped midway as he looked at Tails. He could see the kid's two tails swishing back and forth behind his back. The bear's eyes immediately narrowed and they looked really angry, much to Tails' surprise. Feeling a little taken aback by the bear's sudden anger, Tails trembled a little, but he regained his senses and repeated his order.

"Can I have one chili dog, please?" said Tails as he put the money on the counter, waiting for the bear to reply. The huge bear grabbed the money and counted them, then turned to Tails, his eyes glared up.

"This ain't enough, brat."

"What?" said Tails, obviously surprised, "but the price here says that…"

"That's for NORMAL people, brat. For a freak like you, it's double the price."

Tails was frightened and shocked. His memories of the unfair treatments at the hands of the people on Cocoa Island came back to haunt him. A lump appeared in his throat, which made it difficult for the kid to utter a word, much less speak.

"But that's not fair, I…"

"Shut up!" said the bear threateningly, "Pay up or get lost, brat. There are other people waiting."

Tails turned around and saw three teenagers, a coyote, a one-tailed fox, and a huge hound right behind him. Tails, realizing that the owner wouldn't give him what he wanted, simply walked away, allowing the others to move up the line.

Suddenly, without warning, Tails felt a sharp pain coming from his tails. He was lifted off his feet and was hanging in mid-air. He could feel that someone was grabbing and hurting his twin appendages. Tails glanced back and saw that the hound was the culprit. The hound and his two friends looked at the kid with malicious eyes, a look that Tails had known for too long, but hadn't gotten used to. After staring at the poor kid for a while, the three of them burst out laughing, which scared the cub even more. There was something in those laughs that made Tails tremble, something akin to malice.

"Why are they laughing like that?" thought Tails, "what are they trying to do to me? Maybe they just feel surprised because they have never seen me before?" Tails thought in an attempt to persuade himself that the three teenagers wouldn't do anything to hurt him, but something in his head convinced him otherwise. Why would they want to hurt him, a little fox that had never met them before, much less done anything to provoke their wrath?

After what seemed like an eternity to Tails, the hound stopped laughing and turned to his friends.

"Look here, boys. What do you see?" said the hound, his voice harsh and evil.

"Some sort of freak or mutant." said the coyote, his voice filled with disgust and hate.

"Hey freak," the hound said as he turned back to look at the trembling Tails, "who…what the hell are you?"

Tails was quiet. His mind was completely taken over by his fear, and his horrible memories. The tone of that hound reminded the cub too much of Cocoa Island. He could only stay still and looked at the three teens, unable to utter a single word. The way they looked at him and laughed at him was just like the ones back home. He felt like he had never even left Cocoa Island. Tails' mind was filled with the memories of the cruel inhabitants of Cocoa Island, the ones that had made his life miserable, despite all he had sacrificed to save theirs.

"Hey, brat, are you deaf or something?" the hostile voice of the "normal" fox broke tails out of his trance. He let out a small whimper and looked at the three teens. He could clearly see the hate in their eyes, in their glares and their body languages. Nothing had changed. Nothing. Tails' life was the same as it always had. He was always hated for being different, for being abnormal. People hated him because of his twin tails. To them, he shouldn't have been born. His entire existence was a sin. Tails' soul and body had long suffered from this unreasonable hatred. He was hated for something he couldn't help, he was hated for being himself, for being different. Tails had asked himself why people would do such cruel things to him. Everybody is different, everybody is unique in their own ways, Tails himself include. Yet they treated him so badly, like some kind of demon that could only bring misfortune to those around it.

Once again, Tails was forced back into reality, this time by a sharp pain coming from his tails, which made him yelp. The hound was still there, holding his tails. He was clearly annoyed by the lack of response from the young fox.

"Excuse me…" said Tails as he finally managed to find his voice again, "Could you release my tails? You're kind of hurting them."

"I'm hurting them?" said the hound conceitedly, "Good! That's the point." He started laughing again.

"Why *gulp* would you want to hurt me? I haven't done anything to you? I haven't even met you."

The hound continued to laugh harder, so did the other two behind him. Their voices clearly attracted a lot of people's attention, but they did nothing to help poor, defenseless Tails, they just ignored him and minded their own business. The little mutant obviously wasn't worth their time.

The trio stopped laughing and looked at the fox in the eyes. The hound tightened his grip and hurt Tails even more.

"You haven't done anything to us, freak?"

"No, I haven't…I think" muttered Tails.

"Well, you being here is an eyesore, I don't like it, nobody likes it, and nobody likes a freak walking freely around their neighborhood."

"But I…I…"

"Shut up, pest! Freaks like you obviously carry some sort of contagious disease, or maybe you're one of Robotnik's failed experiments. Either way, we don't like it. Let me show you how we treat freaks and mutants here." said the hound as he clenched his fist. Tails knew what was going to happen to him, and braced himself.

Just as Tails had anticipated, the hound punched him in the stomach with a force so strong that Tails thought his insides were crushed. Tails had endured physical pain before, caused by the Armada and the inhabitants of Cocoa Island, but he could never get used to it. The hound let go of the kid's tails shortly after and smirked evilly. Tails was on the ground, desperately trying to gasp for air. There was a trinket of blood on the corner of the kid's mouth. His stomach was bruised, and his mind was spinning out of control. Pain completely took over his body as he lied there gasping for air.

T-pup had been barking behind Tails all this time. When he saw that his creator was hurt, he immediately jumped in front of the bullies to protect Tails. He gave them the most frightening look the little robotic fox could work up, in an attempt to intimidate the bullies, but his effort was in vain.

T-pup used to be a powerful robot with multiple functions that had helped Tails a lot in his quest against the Armada. However, all of his weapons were either destroyed or removed by Tails after the battles were over. T-pup was reduced to nothing more than a simple robotic pet as Tails had always intended him to be before turning him into a walking arsenal. The only function T-pup had left was a recording function, carried out by the small cameras installed in his eyes, which allowed the robot to record everything he saw.

The bullies noticed T-pup and kicked him, sending the small robot back a few feet. The blow did some damage and broke one of T-pup's legs. Despite being a robot, he still let out a soft whimper like he could actually feel the pain in his broken limb. Tails watched in horror as this happened, powerless to help his mechanical friend. The bullies turned their attention back to Tails and began stomping him, all the while yelling mean and horrible words like "Freak", "monster", "die",…Tails could only curl up into a ball, trying to protect himself in vain as the beating grew more and more intense as time passed.

Tails opened his eyes slowly and tried to see what was happening. When all three bullies both raised their feet up In the air at the same time, he saw an opening and seized the chance. Tails swept his twin appendages on the ground in a circular motion and hit the bullies' remaining feet with a force that made them lose their balance and fell to the ground. Not wasting his precious chance, Tails forced his battered and beaten body to shoot up. He quickly ran toward T-pup and grabbed him. By this time, the three bullies had already gotten up and started to run after Tails. The fox quickly twisted his namesakes together and propelled himself forward, until he was off the ground. The people around could only stare in surprise when the kid took to the sky, his tails mimicking the movement of a helicopter's blades, and flew to the forest from whence he had come.

Tails could still hear some people yell "demon" or "monster" behind, but he didn't pay attention, nor did he care. He had managed to escape, and that was all that mattered. He let out a sigh of relief and gently landed, now safe and alone inside the forest. As an act of precaution, Tails quickly glanced behind him to make sure that he wasn't being followed. Much to the kid's relief, he saw none. He sat down, his back against a tree and looked at T-pup's broken leg. With his skills, he could repair it in a matter of seconds, but he didn't have anything to work with. Tails could only sigh in defeat and disappointment and resigned himself to the fact that there was nothing he could do for his friend.

As Tails looked around the forest, he realized that he was alone once again, just like he had always been. The kid's dreams and hopes were crushed in one single morning.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Muttered Tails to himself.

He sat there in the forest, alone, dejected, hungry and exhausted, mentally and physically. "So much for making new friends." Tails said to himself and smiled a sad smile as he looked at T-pup, feeling hopeless and rejected as he had always felt. He sat there, with only pain and sadness in his innocent heart.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Why?

Tails was deep inside the forest, alone, with only T-pup by his side, as always. He had already had his chance to memorize the trails, and he was perfectly capable of navigating his way through the green maze. Tails had thought about getting back to the Sea Fox, but quickly dismissed such a thought. The Sea Fox was out of commission, the controls had shut down, everything had stopped working save for the main engine. Furthermore, it wouldn't do Tails any good without fuel, and he couldn't purchase any without money. Just the thought of going back to the city made the child shiver. For the time being, Tails was stuck with no other options besides staying on the island.

Even with his ability to fly, Tails knew for a fact that he could never fly across the ocean, and he didn't want to be lost at sea. As a result, he stayed where he was, in the forest, where nobody would be able to find him, where he felt safe. He took the chance to inspect the injuries he had sustained. The pain was killing him. His stomach was bruised very badly from the hound's punch, and it hurt. Additionally, legs and tails were limp from walking and flying for too long, as well as the lack of food. His eyes were starting to become heavy, but he forced them to stay open nonetheless. Forcing his beaten body up, Tails looked around for some leaves big enough to wrap around his wounds to stop the bleeding.

After he had found some leaves he wanted, Tails gently wrapped them around his injuries and tied stabilized them with some vines. For the time being, he managed to halt the bleeding. Tails managed a small chuckle, as if to congratulate himself on a job well done, but it was bitter and sad chuckle. He looked at T-pup, his sapphire eyes moist and wide.

"Well, T-pup," Tails began, "I don't think it's going to get any worse than this." The tone Tails had used to describe his predicament was that of a joking, almost sarcastic, tone. The kid attempted, in vain, to liven up a bit. No sooner had he said that than dark clouds began to cover the sun, signaling an incoming torrent, and a heavy one at that. Tails looked at the sky and chuckled, as if to curse his own luck. A few seconds later, it started to rain.

"Great!" Tails exclaimed, waving his hands up in the air, "Why me?" After that, he looked down at his feet, then his hands, and his tails. Tails narrowed his eyes as he looked at his twin appendages, the cause of all of his pain and misfortune. He hated them, he hated his tails. He loved to fly, and those tails provided him with the freedom to soar through the skies, unbound by gravity, a feat that he and only he could pull off. However, he would gladly trade that special ability, as well as everything he had, for a friend, a companion, a real friend. He stared at his tails for a little while longer, then dropped his head in his arms, and quietly asked himself again, "Why me?", his voice was reduced to a whisper.

Even though the tree Tails sat under was big, it couldn't protect the fox from getting soaked. Soon, the poor, lonely and miserable fox was drenched from head to toe, but he didn't care anymore. Nothing else mattered to him anymore.

"Why? Why can't they see me for who I am? Why can't they accept me for who I am? Why do they like to hurt me? Why do they hate me? It's not my fault I was born with two tails instead of one. I didn't choose to be a born a freak. So why ?" Tails was crying hard, his tears mixed with the rain as they ran down his already wet muzzle. He cried harder and harder as time passed. In his head, one more bitter question crossed his mind as he soon found it hard to stay awake, "why was I even born?"

Tails closed his eyes, having already drained, both physically and emotionally. He just wanted to cry his eyes out, releasing all the pent up frustration and sorrow. He only wanted to cry himself to sleep, like he had always done back home. He lied down on the wet ground, wrapping his tin tails around his body for extra warmth. It wasn't comfortable, but he managed to sleep. All the time Tails had been crying, T-pup was there, watching him closely. He looked at the sleeping Tails' face, his eyes were puffed, and there were black rings under his eyes. The kid was exhausted. Even in his sleep, Tails couldn't find peace as he let out some soft sobs and sniffs, all the while muttering something inaudible to the robot. Memories continued to haunt him in his sleep, in the form of recurring nightmares.

T-pup looked at Tails and recorded the kid's every move. The rain had long stopped, but the ground was still damp. T-pup licked Tails' face slightly, causing the kid to moan a bit, but still stayed asleep. The robotic fox looked at his creator for a little while longer before he got up. He scanned the area around him for some food for Tails' sake. While scanning and walking around, his radar picked up a strange crashing sound not far from where Tails was sleeping, but he paid no mind to it. His electronic brain had already put Tails' well-being as his first priority. With his objective locked, T-pup set out, and began searching for anything that could be edible.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Sonic the hedgehog

Not far from where T-pup was at, there was a crash site. In the middle of the sandy beach lied a red biplane of magnificent beauty, or perhaps what was left of it. The pilot had apparently made an emergency landing and crashed. Most of the plane was still intact, but one wing was broken.

Due to the unexpected rain, the plane was struck by a lightning bolt and went out f control. Apart from the broken wing, the biplane seemed to be fine. The pilot had also miraculously survived the crash unscratched and unharmed.

From the smoke, a figure emerged, coughing and waving his arm around to clear the smoke. After he got out of the smoke, he turned around and looked at his plane.

"Great!" he sighed, smacking his head, "the Tornado is busted. So much for a vacation."

The dark clouds cleared from the sky, and the sun shone on this new visitor to Westside Island, and revealed mostly a shade of blue. The pilot was a hedgehog, a blue one at that. However, unlike other hedgehogs, this one only had five quills sticking out from the back of his head, and three short ones protruding from his back. The most easily recognizable feature to this hedgehog was his color, blue. He was truly a unique creature, a blue hedgehog.

Strange-looking he might be, but he wasn't exactly unheard of. In fact, this hedgehog was a world-renown hero, known far and wide as Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog as they called him. The reason had this name was due to his incredible ability to break the sound barrier with ease. He could run at supersonic speed, surpassing even the most advanced turbo engines ever invented. He wasn't famous until a while ago. In the wake of the mad scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik's mad conquests, Sonic alone challenged the doctor and completely ruined his plans, more than one. Sonic had saved the entire world from the evil genius' madness multiple times and he soon became a hero, admired and worshipped everywhere he went. He was perhaps the world's greatest hero, one that wouldn't be forgotten anytime soon, especially when Robotnik was still at large.

Sonic was known for his carefree, fun-loving, adventurous, and charismatic personality. Even in the direst of situations, Sonic could still find a way to defy all odds, and emerged the victor. With his gift of speed and his optimistic nature, Sonic always managed to foil the mad doctor's schemes, much to the latter's charging and dismay. Sonic was, in every sense, a unique being. He was loved and respected by people around the world for all of his heroic deeds.

Despite all the fame that came along with his status as a hero Sonic remained true to his nature. He didn't want to be tied down in one place, he loved exploring new places, going on adventures and having a blast along the way. Due to Robotnik's sudden disappearance, Sonic had decided to take a break from his hero business and go on a vacation. His plan, called the Tornado, was flying very well, until the little incident happened and forced the speedy blue hedgehog to face a problem that even his speed couldn't solve: being stranded on Westside Island until the Tornado's wing was fixed.

Sonic could easily run across the ocean with his speed, but he never attempted the stunt, because there was one problem: he had aqua phobia. For some reason, Sonic couldn't stay afloat; every time he went into a body of water, he sank like a lump of lead. Besides, he couldn't possibly leave his beloved Tornado behind and run off on his own. As a result, he made the most rational decision presented to him: find someone who could fix the Tornado, then get out of the island. In the meantime, he just needed to sit back and relaxed and treated the occasion like a vacation he had meant to take.

"Oh well," said Sonic with a smirk on his face, "might as well enjoy the stay here then." After that, he sped off, ready to explore the new landscape. Suddenly, he spotted some movement in the bush in front of him. He skidded to a stop and looked at it.

"Must be the locals, well, it doesn't hurt to say hello. Maybe they can tell me where I can find a mechanic."Sonic said to himself as he began to walk toward the bush where the movement had been spotted. However, Sonic caught sight of something he hadn't expected to see. In front of him was a small fox-like robot, one of its leg was damaged, and it was trying to roll a coconut somewhere.

Given Sonic's long history with the mad doctor, he was not very fond of robots, mainly because every single robot he had come across tried to vaporize or erased him, including his own robotic doppelganger called Metal Sonic. Not knowing the origin of the strange robot, Sonic assumed it was a spy sent by Robotnik to gather intelligence on the island. However, there was something about this particular robot that made Sonic second guess his own assumptions. If it were indeed Robotnik's spy, why would it want a coconut? "Maybe it's bringing food to its master." Thought Sonic as he stealthily followed the robot to see where it was heading.

T-pup was trying to bring the coconut back to Tails with some difficulties, due to the damaged leg. However, he continued his task, putting Tails' sake above his own. Unbeknownst to the small robot, Sonic was still hot on his tail. After approximately ten minutes of walking, T-pup made it back to Tails. Sonic, at this point, was shocked speechless as he looked at the figure of a sleeping fox on the ground, all battered, beaten and dirty.

Sonic could clearly tell the young fox was hurt very badly; there were leaves wrapping around his entire body in place of bandages, some of which had already changed from green to red. His muzzle was still damp from his excessive crying, and his body was shivering slightly from being soaked by the sudden downpour. What surprised Sonic the most, however, was the kid's most unique and recognizable feature, from which he had his nickname: his twin tails. Though he was slightly taken aback by the strange mutation, he was more concerned about the fox's well-being. At this time, he noticed that T-pup walked toward Tails and placed the coconut by the kid's side.

The blue hero took a step forward, but his foot accidently stepped on a branch, snapping it. The sound was not very loud, but it was enough to alert T-pup. He turned around abruptly and spotted Sonic. Quickly recognizing the blue blur as a potential threat, T-pup launched himself at the hedgehog and hit him in the guts, sending the surprised blue blur back a few feet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: First impression

Sonic was caught off guard by T-pup, and the robot managed to land a hit on the speedy blue hero. The hit didn't do much damage, compared to Robotnik's usual assault, but it did make Sonic stumble back. To T-pup, the hedgehog was potentially another bully trying to hurt Tails, so he attacked without a second of hesitation.

At this moment, Sonic took a closer look at T-pup and the sleeping Tails on the ground, and he could clearly see the resemblance between the two of them, especially their color. He figured that the little robot was trying to protect his master from a stranger.

"You must really love your master huh, little fellah." said Sonic as he chuckled lightly. Without warning, T-pup launched another attack on Sonic, this time aiming at the hedgehog's head. Sonic quickly and easily dodged the attack, having been fully prepared for it. He looked at the hostile little robot and tried to calm him down.

"Wait, little guy, I'm not going to hurt your owner. I'm here to help."

T-pup, not trusting Sonic's words, continued to attack the hedgehog. Sonic could easily defeat the T-pup, having had a lot of experience in fighting robots, even those that were three times his size, but he couldn't bring himself to destroy this robot. T-pup jumped around, using the trees to speed up instead of using his legs. After a while, he managed to bite Sonic's hand. Unfortunately for the robotic fox, Tails had forgotten to give him teeth, mainly because T-pup didn't really need them. Sonic shook his hand, and accidently sent the robot flying to the ground. Knowing his mistake, Sonic approached the robot and hoped that he was still functioning. To his relief, he was.

However, another problem arose. Tails was woken up by the sound of T-pup hitting the ground. He slowly sat up and shook his head, trying to clear his blurry vision. When his vision was clear, Tails saw a sight that made his blood run cold. In front of his was a blue hedgehog, and on the ground not far from him was his pet T-pup. Tails cried out his robot friend's name, which alerted Sonic to the kid, now fully awake and horrified. Panic and fear took over Tails' mind once again. He frantically looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon to defend himself and save his robotic pet. Tails quickly grabbed the closest thing to him at the time: the coconut T-pup had found, and threw it at Sonic. This move took Sonic by surprise, and the coconut landed perfectly in the hero's face, knocking him down on the ground. Sonic shook his head; he gingerly touched the spot that had been hit and moaned softly.

"Don't you dare touch my friend, you big bully!" said Tails, with fear and anger clearly visible in his trembling voice. After that, Tails quickly ran over to T-pup, grabbed him and ran to the beach.

Sonic looked at the terrified kid made his escape. Realizing the kid had mistaken him for a bully, he quickly shot up from where he was, and ran after Tails, hoping to calm him down.

"Wait, come back, kid." said Sonic as he ran after the fleeing two-tailed fox, "I'm not going to hurt you." Sonic's voice showed nothing but sincerity and concern. Unfortunately for him, however, his words fell on deaf ears, as Tails had chosen to ignore the blue hero completely. The kid continued to make a mad dash forward, hoping to shake the hedgehog off his tail, or tails.

Realizing that words wouldn't get through to the frightened cub, Sonic picked up the pace and tried to catch Tails in an attempt to calm him down and explain the situation. Tails heard a loud boom from behind. He glanced behind briefly and saw that the blue hedgehog had almost caught up to him, despite the fact that he had already created quite a distance between himself and the mysterious chaser. Tails continued to run even faster, all the while wondering to himself how the hedgehog could move so fast.

Tails had had a lot of experience when it came to running, due to his numerous battles against the Battle Bird Armada. However, when he saw that the hedgehog could catch him at any point, Tails began to twist his tails together and used them to propel himself forward, gaining more speed as a result.

Sonic was impressed and fascinated by Tails' speed. For the first time in his life, someone was making the fastest thing alive keep up, while it was usually the other way around. Although he still felt worried about the young fox, Sonic was starting to enjoy his little game of tag. He smiled happily to himself and he sped up even more in an attempt to reach the kid.

Tails, on the other hand, was anything but happy. He was running like his life depended on it, which was very much the truth in his mind. The poor kid began to feel tired from his excessive exercise, and began to slow down a little. Hunger, pain and fear had taken quite a toll on the child's tiny body, and overexerting himself didn't help improve the situation. T-pup looked at Tails with worried eyes, but the child fox smiled at him, trying to reassure his worried friend that everything was fine.

Knowing he couldn't shake off the stubborn pursuer, Tails resorted to his final card. The gloves he was wearing were also his creations, capable of creating explosives on their own, a tool that aided him greatly during the battles against the Armada. Tails always hated violence, so he didn't want to use these gloves if he could help it. However, he had run out of ideas, and these gloves were probably the only thing that could help him get away. Tails looked behind and waited for the right moment, because he only had one bomb left.

Making a sharp turn, Tails managed to catch Sonic off guard. He quickly created a bomb and threw it on the ground between himself and the blue blur. Needless to say, Sonic was shocked when he learned that the kid was in possession of explosives. Before he knew it, the bomb hit the ground and exploded on impact. The bomb's chemical composition was designed by Tails to be harmless to living beings, but powerful enough to destroy anything inorganic. The blast sent sand everywhere, forcing the speedy blue hero to skid to a stop. Tails' plan had worked out perfectly. Sonic's vision was greatly limited by the sand, allowing the kid to make his escape.

Sonic, who was still unable to see anything through the sand, suddenly heard a strange sound. He vaguely saw a shadow jump out from the sand and disappear. The strange sound was now coming from above him. Sonic looked up and was, for the umpteenth time in one day, shocked when he saw Tails in the air, using his tails to make him fly. Tails had managed to elude the hedgehog and escaped to a place where Sonic, even with all his gifts of speed, couldn't follow: the sky. Tails flew away as Sonic continued to look at the kid in awe from where he was, completely amazed by the young fox's unique ability.

Tails looked back at the hedgehog and saw that he was just standing still, seemingly decided to quit. The fox knew he had escaped and let out a sigh of relief.

"I…did…it." muttered Tails breathlessly as he struggled to remain airborne. His victory, however, was short-lived as his strength was beginning to fail him. He suddenly felt dizzy and exhausted, and lost control of his flight.

"No…not now, I need to…get…" muttered Tails helplessly. At this point, his tails stopped spinning, and he plummeted to the ground. He braced himself for impact from the twenty-foot fall. Tails closed his eyes and waited for death's cold embrace to wrap him. During his fall, he could still hear T-pup barking, but he couldn't open his eyes anymore. "I guess…this is it for me…" thought Tails as a single tear escaped his eye.

There was a loud thud, and Tails could feel that he had landed. However, contrary to his imagination, the landing was soft. No, more like his landing was broken by something. He could feel someone's hands holding him, and faintly hear someone's voice calling out to him. The hands were warm and strong, the voice was gentle, yet sad. He forced his tired eyes open, and vaguely saw the blue hedgehog looking at him with his piercing emerald eyes, in which concerned could clearly be interpreted. Tails saw the hedgehog's mouth move, but he couldn't hear anything that was being said. Soon, Tails closed his eyes, and fell into a thick veil of darkness, not caring what would become of him anymore.

Sonic held the kid up, his eyes wide with worry as he frantically begged the little fox to wake up, fearing the worst had happened. Much to his relief, Sonic could feel the kid's chest rise and drop slowly. It was only a small sign, but it showed that Tails was indeed alive, but he was very weak. Looking at the fox's wounded and dirty body, Sonic couldn't help but wonder what kind of mishaps the kid had gotten himself into to end up in the sorry and pitiful state he was in.

T-pup looked at Tails and whimpered softly. The robot was still wary of the strange hedgehog, but he was more concerned about his creator at the moment. Sonic looked at the small robot and smiled.

"Don't worry, little guy. I told you, I'm not going to hurt your master. I'm here to help." said Sonic as he tried to convince T-pup one more time. T-pup, although still a little wary of Sonic, decided to let the hedgehog take Tails, as he was probably Tails' best and only bet. Sonic held the unconscious kid in his arms and grabbed the little robot. After that, he ran back to the Tornado, knowing he could give Tails some first aids that the kid needed. He had thought about bringing Tails to the hospital, but he didn't know his way around, and moving the kid too much could potentially do more harm than good. Sonic soon reached the Tornado. He looked at the kid in his arms, whose body was limp, and whispered, "Hang in there, little guy. I'm not going to let you die, not on my watch."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Second impression

With Sonic's speed, he reached the Tornado in a matter of minutes. Carefully placed the unconscious Tails inside the cockpit, Sonic reached out for the back seat and pulled out his medical kit. Sonic didn't really use it much, but he kept it anyway should the need arise. Turning back to Tails, Sonic could see the state the poor lad was in much more clearly, something that made even a carefree and cheery person like Sonic to feel sad and shocked.

Tails' body was completely covered with bruises and cuts, both old and fresh. Their little chase had managed to make all his makeshift bandages fall off, and some wounds had reopened, bleeding steadily. His fur was filthy and in disarray. To make matter worse, the kid's breathing was somewhat erratic, and his face was red. Sonic touched Tails' forehead and knew that he was having a fever, a mild one, due to being in the rain for quite a long time. The fox's stomach was badly bruised, and dried blood could easily be seen on the corner of his mouth. The blue hero had seen his fair share of injuries and wounds from Robotnik's attacks, but compared to those times, Tails' conditions was worse. His injuries and the way he had reacted to Sonic made the blue blur worried. He couldn't stop wondering what could have possibly happened to the poor fox to leave him in such a sorry state. He was alone in the forest, hurt, and scared. Sonic looked at Tails as he felt his heart break in two.

Tails, even in his sleep, let out soft moans and tossed about the cockpit. The fever was making him feel worse. The cub's face proved that the kid was in agony. He groaned as he mumbled "leave me alone" and "don't hurt me". They were muffed, but Sonic could still hear them.

"Whatever this kid has gone through, it must have been really bad…poor little guy." Sonic thought to himself as he put a applied some medicine on his wounds and bandaged Tails up. He quickly put a wet cloth on the child's forehead to help reduce his fever. Tails could subconsciously felt the sting as Sonic applied the medicine, but he remained asleep. After the treatment, Tails' expression eased a little. He was sleeping peacefully. His wounds had been disinfected and bandaged. Tails wasn't the scared and frightened kid that had frantically tried to get away from Sonic a few minutes ago, he was much more relaxed and at ease.

Noticing the sun had almost set, Sonic quickly gathered some firewood to start a campfire. He had decided to stay and looked after Tails for the night instead of trying to locate a hotel in the new and unfamiliar area. After he had started a fire, Sonic directed his attention at Tails once more. The kid was still sleeping peacefully. He curled himself up into a tight ball; his two fluffy appendages wrapped around his tiny body like a safety blanket as he slept. Sonic found his sleeping post adorable. He chuckled lightly at the sight. He could also hear the cub's soft snores. Once he was sure that Tails wouldn't be up anytime soon, he jumped out of the cockpit and headed for his campfire.

T-pup followed Sonic, having finally trusted the hedgehog after all the trouble he had gone through to help Tails. T-pup, despite being a robot, acted affectionate toward Sonic like a real puppy in love. His tail was waving from side to side, his tongue was stuck out, and his eyes were locked on Sonic. The blue hero smiled at the robotic fox and patted him gently on the head.

"Like master, like pet." Said Sonic as he patted his new robotic follower, "You're very darn cute for a robot, unlike the scraps I have had to put up with."

Sonic glanced at the Tornado's cockpit again, and then directed his gaze at T-pup, who was sitting in front of him like an obedient little puppy.

"Look, little guy," Sonic began, his voice showed hints of sadness, "I don't know if you can understand, or compute, or something like that, but I really want to know what happened to your master." Sonic looked at the robot's bright eyes, seemingly oblivious to what he had said.

Sonic shook his head lightly, as if to ridicule himself, "Of course, I'm talking to a robot" and sighed. He turned back to the campfire and threw more woods into it, keeping the fire burn. After a moment of silence, T-pup slowly walked up to Sonic and looked at him. Sonic was about to ask what T-pup was up to, but before he could ask, T-pup beat him to it. The robotic fox turned his head away and his eyes lit up. He projected a three dimensional screen, and a classic countdown initiated. It was T-pup's recording function, his only working system beside his electronic brain. Sonic looked at his new mechanical friend with glee.

"Well, that works." said Sonic as he paid attention to the screen.

After the countdown, everything went black. The only thing that could be seen was the date the recording was made, and some noise could be heard in the background. Sonic dropped whatever he was doing and looked at the screen, determined to learn more about Tails. He was amazed by the kid's abilities, and he wanted to know his story

After a few seconds, the screen was still black, but the noise got louder and louder. It was a voice, as Sonic could hear, a child's voice to be exact, mixed with the sound of hammering and drilling. After that, the darkness lifted and Tails' face appeared. He was a bit younger, but there was no way Sonic could mistake those sapphire eyes and yellow fur. The fox smiled at the camera with a childish and innocent smile, the likes of which Sonic had never seen.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Flashback

"This goes here," said the younger Tails, "and that goes there. Put this here and…done."

The screen began to become clearer and the angle shifted to the surrounding. It was a small room, a cabin to be accurate. The room was filled with mechanical parts and machines, the likes of which Sonic had never seen before. Wires and bolts were scattered on the floor, tools and metals were everywhere on a small table in the corner. The camera shifted back to Tails shortly after.

"Okay, little guy," said Tails, "can you hear me?" A little bark answered the kid's question. He smiled brightly as he picked up the mechanical fox.

"Good! My name is Miles Prower, but my friends…everybody calls me Tails. You are my latest creation, as well as the first to actually move automatically. I'll call you…let's see…T…pup. Yeah, T-pup."

Tails' smile grew even wider. His blue eyes lit up like the sky itself. The kid looked at T-pup with a proud and happy look on his face, which was clearly visible. Tails' smile was so adorable and innocent that Sonic thought it could melt anyone's heart with ease, as it did his. Sonic continued to look at the screen, and heard Tails say one more sentence before it turned black, "Welcome to the world, my friend."

The screen went black for a few seconds, but it soon turned back on. The next few scenes were sped up; most of them were about Tails' days on Cocoa Island. In all of those scenes, Tails could be seen tinkering and experimenting with all the junks that he had brought back from the junkyard. The machines that had been thrown away were restored to their former glory, thanks to the fox's incredible, and almost magical, talents in the field of technology. The child's room was filled with everything he had fixed up.

From the recordings, Sonic learned that he had spent most of his life in the forest, which was always secluded and far from civilization. Tails lived on his own, with only T-pup to keep him company. On the few rare occasions when he went to town, Sonic could see the fox act fidgety and nervous, while those around him had an angry and disgusted look on their faces. The more he watched, the more Sonic learned about Tails. He was always cheerful, and bright. The cobalt hero found himself smiling a little as he watched the kid's life unravel before his eyes. However, he felt sad for the fox. He could do many incredible things, but he was always alone, and his only friend was a mechanical creation he had built himself to keep him company.

Sonic continued to watch the recording in silence. His eyes were glued to the screen. Tails' life began to unravel more and more, until the darkest moments of his life came to light. More than once, Tails was subjected to the cruelty of the people around him. Everybody looked down on him, bullied him, beat him up, ignored him, and even called him names like "freak", "monster", and "mutant". More than once, Sonic lost his temper and shot up from where he was sitting with his fist clenched. He could feel his blood boil as he watched Tails helplessly tried to get away from his tormentors, all the while crying profusely.

"How could they?" remarked Sonic, as he watched, "How could they do that to a child?" Sonic's voice was low, almost a whisper, and it was bitter. Sonic glanced back at the Tornado and narrowed his eyes.

Two hours had passed since the recording started playing, but Sonic didn't care, nor did he realize. He was so immersed in learning more about Tails that he had lost track of time. At last, the most traumatic memories of the fox came to light, in the form of the Battle Bird Armada's invasion.

The blue blur could only stare in shock as Tails' battles against the deadly birds unfolded right before his eyes. Tails faced off against the armada on his own, using his inventions and intellect to aid him. Sonic couldn't believe that Tails had had to deal with an entire army armed with state-of-the-art weaponries that could possibly rival Robotnik's army. Tails fought heroically and in the end, he emerged the victor, defeating the Battle Lord and forcing the birds back into hiding.

"I knew that kid…Tails was amazing them moment I saw him," said Sonic, "the kid is a hero."

Sonic smiled. He was amazed by all the things Tails was capable of. However, his smile soon left his face as he learned about the aftermath of the battle. Sonic learned that the island was completely devastated, but that wasn't the worst. The worst thing was the people's attitude toward the young fox that had saved them all. They blamed everything on Tails and treated him even worse than they had. After all he had sacrificed to save everybody; those ingrates beat him up and made his life miserable. Sonic also learned about Tails' decision to leave Cocoa Island and travelled to Westside Island, and his first day on his new island.

Sonic was beyond angry. He barely kept his anger under control, solely because there was nothing around that he could vent his anger on. Tails had been mistreated for a long time because of his twin tails, a genetic mutation that he couldn't help. Those terrible people only judged Tails by his abnormality, they didn't even get to know the kid, and they didn't even give Tails a chance to show them what he was truly like. This knowledge affected Sonic deeply. He hated bullies, even more than Dr. Robotnik. He hated all of those that had deliberately made Tails suffer.

The cobalt hero was at a loss for words. He couldn't even find the right words to describe how he was feeling at the moment. Even the word "despicable" couldn't fully describe those hideous monsters, the same ones that would readily harm a child just for their own entertainment. Sonic went back to the Tornado and took a peek at the sleeping fox, whose face was relaxed and he was snoring quietly. Sonic looked at the poor child with sympathy and sadness. The kid had been through more than Sonic could possibly imagine. Although Sonic himself was different from everybody else, he wasn't treated badly because he was a world-famous hero. In many ways, Sonic could relate to Tails, from the fact that they were different than most people.

Looking at the peacefully sleeping Tails, Sonic made up his mind. He wanted to help the fox. He wanted to help him. He wanted to make the kid's life better. He smiled to himself and decided that he would introduce himself properly to Tails. T-pup jumped in the cockpit and went into sleep mode next to Tails. Sonic looked at them a little longer, and then he pulled out his sleeping bag from the back seat. He closed his tired eyes and tried to get some sleep. In his mind, thoughts about Tails continued to flash.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The genius and the hero

Morning came. The sun lit up the darkened scenery and swept the away the darkness of the night. Sonic woke up to the chirping of the birds. Before the blue hero was a picture perfect scene. The light of the sun shining on the beach made the water sparkle. The waves were moving gently toward shore. The trees were dancing with the morning breeze. The blue blur always loved to appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature, so he was delighted. Not one to waste daylight, Sonic quickly got up and stretched his limbs to get rid of the lingering sleepiness.

"Yeah," exclaimed Sonic as he stretched, "that feels really good."

After stretching, the cobalt hero was, on habit, about to speed off for his routine run, but he suddenly remembered Tails. Quickly jumping onto the Tornado's wing, Sonic peeked inside the cockpit and saw Tails, still asleep. Somehow, T-pup had managed to climb on Tails' chest at some point at night. One of Tails' tails was wrapping around the little robot in a protective manner, while his other tail acted as his pillow. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the sight. The kid was just too adorable; the way he used his tails only made him look cuter. The blue blur didn't have the heart to wake up the sleeping fox.

However, Sonic didn't need to worry about waking Tails up. Without warning, Tails began to toss and turn, making T-pup fall to the floor. His peaceful expression was replaced by that of fear and agony. He moaned loudly, and Sonic could hear him whisper something.

"Please," muttered Tails, his voice shaky, "leave T-pup alone…I beg you, don't hurt him,…" after that, he screamed on the top of his lung, causing the shocked and surprised Sonic to cover his ears. Sonic was beginning to get worried. Whatever he was dreaming about, it was really frightening.

T-pup looked at Tails and licked his cheek gently, trying to calm his creator down. The cold metal seemed to work, as Tails began to open his eyes. Suddenly, he shot up and frantically looked around for his little robotic pet, his eyes wide with worry, his face pale, and his breathing erratic. As soon as he laid eyes on the familiar robot, Tails let out a sigh of relief that his worry had only been a bad dream. Quickly scooping T-pup up and holding him in his tiny arms, Tails hugged his beloved creation tightly as a tear ran down his muzzle.

"Thank goodness," said Tails, his voice filled with relief, "you're here. You're okay." He tightened his hug even more, oblivious to where he was and the blue hedgehog watching him.

After calming down from his outburst, Tails let go of T-pup and noticed his surrounding for the first time. It was a cockpit, as he could clearly see the controls. However, it wasn't the Sea Fox's. Tails didn't remember getting back to the Sea Fox the previous day, so he began to worry a little. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure watching him tentatively. Turning his head to that direction, Tails gasped as he saw Sonic. Memories of the chase came back to the kid as his face went pale. Once again, Tails was taken by panic, his body was numb.

Noticing Tails' sudden discomfort, Sonic reached out his hand and asked the trembling child, "Are you okay, kid?" However, a simple act of kindness in Sonic's mind warranted a reaction from Tails, the kind of reaction that terrified the cobalt speedster.

Tails, seeing the hedgehog's outstretched hand, instantly remembered the beatings he had endured. Tails jerked back and let out a loud scream. Sonic was taken aback by the child's sudden outburst and flinched. Tails seized the moment and swiftly grabbed T-pup and flew out of the cockpit.

"Wait, Tails," Sonic screamed after the fleeing fox with all his might, "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." His effort, however, was in vain. Tails either didn't hear what Sonic had said, or he had chosen to ignore it entirely. He was too frightened to think straight. His flight, however, was cut short when his strength failed him yet again. Due to the lack of nutrition, as well as the sudden movements, Tails felt dizzy and tired. History repeated itself as Tails plummeted down to the ground. This time, he landed face-first on the sandy shore, and got a mouthful of sand.

"Kid?" said Sonic as he stopped next to the kid, "Are you alight?"

Tails quickly curled up into a tight ball in a futile attempt to protect himself. He was trembling uncontrollably. He could only stay down and look at Sonic with his frightened eyes. Tails could remember their first encounter, and to him, it was anything but pleasant. In his head, he still couldn't get rid of the image of T-pup lying helplessly on the ground.

"Please," said Tails, "don't hurt me." His voice was very shaky, and Sonic could see that just speaking alone was difficult for the frightened child.

"I told you, Tails, I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I hurt you after going through all the trouble of fixing you up?"

At that moment, Tails took a close look at his body for the first time. The cub noticed that there were bandages wrapped around his wounds where leaves should have been. He was surprised, but that alone was far from enough to convince the child to trust a stranger. To Tails, it could have been a trick to make him lower his guard. With that thought in mind, the kid remained still, unmoving.

Sonic, clearly sensing Tails' lack of trust, stepped back and created some distance between them. Once again, Tails was puzzled by this act. He couldn't figure out what kind of game the hedgehog was playing. He just stared at Sonic with questioning eyes.

"Look kid," Sonic began, putting his hands in the air, "I'm not going to do anything to hurt you. Trust me."

Tails continued to look at Sonic with suspicious eyes for a little while a longer. Something in the child told him to trust the hedgehog, but something else protested. Looking at his bandages, Tails began to consider the possibility of the stranger telling the truth. He had fixed up Tails, and so far, he hadn't made any move that showed he was hostile. Looking at the strange warily one more time, Tails decided to take his chance and slowly uncurled himself. He wanted to trust people again, despite all he had gone through, and something in the back of his mind urged him to place his trust on the blue hedgehog, who he felt strangely familiar, like he had seen him somewhere before. Tails relaxed his tensed muscles and sat up, his eyes still fixed on the towering figure of the blue blur.

Sonic smiled when Tails loosened up. At that very moment, T-pup jumped out of Tails' protective embrace and launched itself toward Sonic. This action gave Tails yet another fright. He yelled T-pup's name as the robot got closer to the hedgehog. However, to his surprise and relief, Sonic only patted T-pup's head. The robotic fox was waving his tail vigorously from side to side; his tongue was stuck out like a real puppy. Tails looked at the sight and was stunned for a moment. That T-pup would act so affectionately around a stranger was weird, because the only one he had showed such affection was none other than Tails.

"See, kid," said Sonic with a grin on his face, "your little friend seems to trust me." Sonic kneeled down to Tails' level and looked at the kid. Tails, upon seeing the way T-pup acted around the hedgehog, relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. His expression changed dramatically from a feared one to a relaxed one.

"I have never seen T-pup get close to anyone else like that before. You're the first one that he has ever showed his loving side to, mister…"

"Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog." said Sonic proudly as he pointed his thumb at himself. The grin on his face became even wider.

That name hit Tails like a brick. The fox had heard of that name before. Who had not heard? You had to be living under a rock to not know about the fastest thing alive and all of his great deeds. Tails mentally beat himself up. Sonic was the fox's idol, he had been keeping an ear out for everything related to Sonic. To Tails, Sonic was an inspiration. They were very much alike in the sense that they were unique and capable of things that everyone else was not. Tails was dumbfounded. He still couldn't believe he was in the presence of the world's greatest hero. He had unknowingly held his breath ever since the name was mentioned. He didn't even realize that his lung was screaming for air.

"Kid? What's wrong?" said Sonic; "You look like you have seen a ghost or something?

Sonic's voice snapped the bewildered Tails back to reality. At that moment, he finally remembered how to breathe .He still had a surprised look on his face, still not believing Sonic was right in front of his eyes.

"You're Sonic?" stuttered Tails; "As in the world-renown Sonic that has faced Robotnik's army and foiled his every plan for world domination?"

"The one and only." Said Sonic as he gave the excited cub a thumbs up, his trademark post.

Tails finally smiled a real smile, one that clearly showed the cub's happiness and excitement. To Tails, meeting Sonic was a dream come true. He had always dreamed about becoming fast and strong like the blue blur. Most of all, he wanted to be respected and treated equally for being himself, just like Sonic. Tails was about to say something to his speedy idol, but stopped himself as the memories of their unpleasant encounter resurfaced; most specifically the one that Tails threw a coconut and a bomb at Sonic. His happy expression left his face completely, only to be replaced by a frown.

"What's the matter kid?" asked Sonic as he noticed the drastic change on the child's expression.

"Well, I" began Tails, his voice shaky, "I threw a coconut…and a…b…b…" For obvious reason, Tails couldn't bring himself to say the word "bomb". Although he had aimed that bomb at the ground to create a diversion, he still couldn't accept the fact that he could have injured Sonic in the process. Tails' eyes began to get teary. He looked down at his hands, loathing himself.

Sonic noticed the way Tails had become all quiet all of the sudden. He knew what Tails was referring to. In truth, Sonic was shocked that a child like Tails was in possession of dangerous explosives, despite knowing about the child's traumatic past with a band of hostile invaders. However, Sonic cleared that thought off his mind. He was more concerned about the child's well-being than keeping himself preoccupied with trivial matters.

"Don't worry about that, little dude." began Sonic, his voice soft and gentle; "It was just a simple misunderstanding, no harms done. Okay." Sonic then proceeded to take a step closer to Tails, who was still trembling in fear and disgust at what he had done. When he saw Sonic get closer, Tails immediately jerked back on instinct, fearing the hero's wrath.

"Don't worry, Tails," said Sonic with a soothing voice, "if you can't take my word for it, you can take it from your friend." Sonic pointed at T-pup, who was still affectionately following the blue blur around.

Upon seeing T-pup's happy expression, Tails loosened up a little and let out a sigh of relief. He looked at Sonic, the grin still on his face, and smiled nervously. He was glad that Sonic didn't hold a grudge for that incident, but Tails still couldn't forgive himself.

Then, something Sonic had said struck Tails. To be more specific, it was the way Sonic had called the child. Even in his moment of fright, he could still remember Sonic had called him by his nickname "Tails", the nickname that the people on Cocoa had given him with disgust.

"How?" asked Tails as he wrapped his namesakes around his body; "How did you know my nickname? Could it be that you…you think that I'm a freak, just like everyone else? Is that why? You're just like them, aren't you?"

To Tails, his nickname was an insult. It always made the fox feel like a freak because of the way those horrible people say it. They had called him by that name for so long that even the child began to refer to himself in that manner, loathing his tails and his life. Tails sat still, waiting for the usual insults from Sonic whom he had considered to be the same as his tormenters. To his surprise, however, the insults never came.

"No" said Sonic firmly, "I don't think you're a freak because of your tails. It's just that the name Tails suits you. I personally love the extra tail, it's really cool." Sonic paused for a while, looking at the fox, "And about how I know you name, let's just say that this little fellah introduced you to me." said Sonic as he pointed at T-pup.

Tails was shocked. The way Sonic had called him was different from the way other people had called him. It was gentle and warm, almost loving. For the first time in his life, he liked to be called Tails. The way Sonic had called him made him think that the name indeed suited him. It wasn't a bad name. It described him so well. How could he hate something that was so him. Swishing his namesakes around excitedly at the revelation that Sonic didn't scorn him for his extra tail, he smiled happily. However, Tails was still a little puzzled about T-pup introducing him to Sonic. T-pup couldn't talk, so how could accomplish that?

It was then that the recording function of T-pup dawned on the puzzled genius. He looked at T-pup, then at Sonic. Tails figured Sonic must have seen everything, including his adventures. He sadly looked at his shoes again, unable to look at his hero in the eye.

"If that's the case, then you saw everything?" Tails' voice trailed off as he spoke.

"Yeah, kind of." replied Sonic.

"Does that mean you also saw how I made a mess of my home?" Tails' voice was reduced to a mere whisper. He spoke like he hadn't meant for Sonic to hear. It was a statement, an accusation that Tails directed at himself. At this moment, Tails was struggling to hold back the tears.

Sonic came close to the cub and hugged him tightly, which made Tails flinch.

"No, I didn't see how you made a mess of your island. I only saw how you saved it from those bird brains. You didn't do anything wrong. Forget what those bullies said. You didn't do anything wrong."

Tails couldn't hold back his tears any longer. Tears fell freely from his sapphire eyes down his muzzle, soaking his fur in the process. He put his head in Sonic's chest and cried with all his might. It was the first time anyone had ever comforted and understood his pain. He didn't care about anything for the time being. He only cried, letting out all of the frustration and sorrow that he had bottled up for a long time. He only cried to his heart's content, until he could no longer feel the pain.

Sonic pulled Tails into a tighter hug. He only sat there and looked at the crying child in his arms in silence. He could say something to comfort the kid, but decided against the thought. For the time being, he would only let the fox dry up his tears and waste away his sorrows. No words left the usually chatty hedgehog. He gently stroked the back of Tails' head and remained still.

In the middle of the tranquil scenery, only the sound of Tails' anguish crying could be heard loud and clear, far and wide. Time itself seemed to stop as the crying increased in amplitude. In the middle of a secluded beach, the genius fox and the heroic hedgehog just sat still, hugging each other while the former's tears rolled. They just sat where they were, unmoving, for a very long time.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: You are special.

After crying for nearly an hour, Tails had finally calmed down. He had never cried for so long before, much less in the arms of someone else. However, he had managed to dry up his tears. His crying became sobs, and he slowly pulled away from Sonic's warm clutch. By then, his eyes were really red, and his muzzle was drenched. Sonic gently ruffled the child's head, making him giggle a little.

"Are you alright now, kiddo?" asked Sonic, his voice soft and gentle.

"Yeah, I think." replied Tails between sobs.

"Well, that's good to hear."

After that, there was a moment of silence as both the hedgehog and the hero were at a loss for words. Sonic could make some jokes to lighten the mood, but he wouldn't want to accidently hurt the fox's feelings. The silence was finally lifted when Tails looked at Sonic and lowered his head down, as if he was embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," said Tails, his head still down, "You're all wet."

That Sonic was afraid of water was pretty much common knowledge, and some people even had the rare chance to witness the moments of his delirious reactions to getting wet. He hadn't even realized he was wet until Tails pointed out. Normally, he would have freaked out, but he didn't for Tails' sake.

"No problem, little buddy," said Sonic as he tried to prevent his grin from leaving his face; "though I'm not really fond of the thought." Sonic shrugged slightly.

Tails chuckled at the cobalt hero's remark and reaction. However, his chuckle soon ceased as he looked at Sonic again. Sonic noticed the fox was acting really fidgety and nervous for some reason. He was about to ask what was bothering Tails, but just as he was about to ask, Tails interrupted, "About the bomb, I…I…"

Sonic sighed, which made Tails stop abruptly. He was worried if Sonic was mad at him. Contrary to Tails' thoughts, Sonic looked at Tails and said, "Stop with the apologizing, kid. You're killing me here. I have heard enough apologies from you for one lifetime already. You should really liven up a bit." Sonic then smiled at the kid. Tails hesitated for a few seconds to think about what to say.

"Thank you…" said Tails as he looked at Sonic with innocent eyes, "for everything."

"That's an improvement." Said Sonic, his grin got even wider than before.

Sonic was glad that Tails had finally come to trust him, but at the same time, the kid always remained quiet. The chatty hedgehog couldn't deal with all the awkward silence.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"Well," replied the fox, "I'm not used to talking with organic beings, I mean other people. Most of the time, I only talk to T-pup or my creations and imagine that they are talking back to me. Usually when I start talking to people, they call me a freak then beat me up, or tell to disappear. Maybe that's why I don't know how to handle a conversation. Sorry."

Sonic understood. After all, he had witnessed what other people had done to the child. Not only had they scarred Tails physically, they had even left scars in a place where no medicine could heal: his heart. Due to the long years of being neglected and mistreated, Tails had almost no self-esteem. That trait about the little two-tailed fox had become rather visible to Sonic from the ways Tails had been acting and speaking.

Tails let out a loud sigh and continued, "Maybe they're right." Sonic raised an eyebrow at this remark, "I'm just a freak of nature after all." Tails glanced back at his two squishing appendages behind him as he spoke, his eyes filled with sadness.

No sooner had the last word escaped from Tails' mouth than he felt Sonic's strong grip on his shoulder. The hedgehog looked at him with a very serious expression on his face. His grin had completely disappeared. This new face made Tails a little jumpy. Sonic's emerald eyes were looking right into his sapphire ones. Tails sat still, wondering if he had said something he shouldn't have, and he wasn't wrong in thinking that way because he had.

"Tails," Sonic said with his usual tone, but his voice was deeper and there was seriousness in it, "you are not a freak of nature. You are who you are. You are special. Personally, I love the extra tail. It looks really cool. Besides, how many foxes you know that can fly by twisting their tails together." Tails sat still, taking everything Sonic said in. Sonic paused for a while, and then resumed, "Remember that you are special, kid. Don't let those bullies convince you otherwise."

Tails was having stunned by Sonic's words. He was surprised that someone didn't dislike his tails; surprised that someone didn't call him a freak, that he loved his extra tail. He was happy. For the first time in his life, someone called him special, not abnormal; happy that someone would comfort him, and help him in his moments of need.

He had never had a real conversation with another person before, so it was strange to Tails. It was a completely new experience. It felt really good to express yourself through words, and listen as the other party conveyed his thoughts. Tails was glad, delighted, and thrilled. It was just a normal conversation, but it made the kid smile. It was a really big and cheerful smile. Sonic was surprised that Tails could smile like that, but he was glad that his words had gotten through to the child.

"Thank you," said Tails at last, "for calling me special."

"You're welcome, Tails," Sonic replied with a big grin, "After all, you and I are very much alike."

At this remark, Tails tilted his head and looked at Sonic with inquisitive eyes. His ears perked up and his eyes opened wide. He looked puzzled. Sonic really had to try to hold himself back so as not to laugh at how Tails looked. Tails was looking funny, but cute as he should be.

"How so?" asked Tails.

"Look at me," said Sonic proudly, "I'm a blue hedgehog that can run at the speed of sound. How many hedgehogs you know that can do what I do?"

Tails scratched the back of his head as he looked down, deep in thought. Once again, Sonic had to fight back the urge to laugh at Tails' behavior. The kid was just too adorable. After a while, Tails looked up and only shrugged. Sonic gave him a warm smile.

"You and I can do things that no one can. Heck, you can even do things I can't even start to imagine."

"Well, I did manage to escape from you yesterday, if I hadn't fainted." said Tails sarcastically.

"Well, you took me by surprise with your bomb and flying trick, kid. If it had been a fair race, I would have moped the floor with you before it even began." said Sonic jokingly. He was chuckling to himself when he said that. Just a couple minutes ago, Tails was still a stoic and quiet kid, now he was making jokes and being sarcastic toward the hero.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Sonic. I'm pretty fast too, you know." said Tails as he crossed his arms.

"Maybe we should have a contest sometime, winner wins the bragging rights." said Sonic as he returned the gesture. Sonic and Tails had a staring contest after that.

Suddenly, they both burst out laughing. It was amazing. Tails was glad that Sonic was with him. Sonic, on the other hand, was glad that Tails was feeling a lot better, to the point of making jokes him. He couldn't believe that Tails was the same fox who had frantically tried to get away from him the day before. Tails was laughing for real, he was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. Their fit of laughter filled the atmosphere, and it lasted a long time, too. After their little outburst, they calmed themselves down and looked at each other.

"Thank you," said Tails at last, "for everything." He smiled. He felt like he was completely reborn, like a completely different person. He felt as though his sadness and troubles had never existed in the first place. It was the first time he knew the happiness of speaking to another person, the warmth of a smile, and the wonders of comfort.

"Don't mention it, Tails. Don't ever think badly about yourself anymore and ignore what those jerks say. If they ever say it again, I'll make sure they'll never get a good night sleep ever again. I'll bang on their doors every single night and leave when they come down to check. After all, I'm the fastest thing alive."

Tails laughed at Sonic's remark. He didn't know if Sonic would really do it, but there was a possibility of that happening. Tails could even imagine the looks on the ones Sonic would do that to. All it took was one single person to make the distressed child's day bright. To Tails, having met Sonic, having comforted by him, having heard his jokes, all of those things were a dream come true. He pinched his cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming, which surprised Sonic a little. To his joy, he wasn't dreaming. Tails wished this moment would last forever; the moment that he made a friend out of Sonic the hedgehog.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Again

Sonic and Tails' moment of joy was abruptly interrupted by a loud growl coming from the fox's stomach. It was then that the fact that Tails had not eaten anything for days dawned on the child. He quickly covered his rumbling belly and looked down, ashamed. His cheeks turned red, and he tried t use his tails to hide his face, for he really didn't want Sonic to know. Unfortunately for the child, Sonic noticed. He chuckled at the fox's childish and dramatic reactions to what he considered a natural occurrence. The cobalt hedgehog chuckled and stood up, dusting the sand off.

"Sounds like someone is hungry." said Sonic cheerfully.

"Well, I haven't had a single bite for days. I seem to have forgotten about it, though." said Tails, still trying to hide his face in his fluffy namesakes. "Besides, I kind of threw my meal at you yesterday."

Sonic laughed at the child's words. Tails had indeed done that, and Sonic himself admitted that the child had great aim, even when he was panic. He reached out a hand to the yellow ball of fluff on the ground, which Tails hesitantly accepted. The blue hero pulled the child up to his tiny feet.

"Well, how about we go to town and grab a bite?" Sonic suggested, hoping that this would make the kid happy. However, his harmless suggestion brought about an unforeseen reaction from Tails, the likes that almost terrified the hedgehog. To the cobalt hero's surprise, Tails' face turned pale at the mention of the word "town". He still remembered what had transpired during his short visit, and he wasn't eager to go through all that again anytime soon. There was a possibility that he would run into the three bullies again if he went there, and he wasn't willing to take such a risk.

Sonic, sensing the fox's sudden discomfort, wondered if he had unknowingly said something that offended the kid. Suddenly, he remembered about Tails' time in the city. It was short, but it was clearly enough to traumatize the poor child. He felt sorry for Tails. That such an innocent and sweet soul had to endure all those pains was beyond his imagination. Sonic hated those who had wronged Tails, each and every one of those bullies. To Sonic, the only thing that made his blood boil beside Robotnik's madness was bullies. He hated them with a passion. He hated how they treated other people like dirt just to prove themselves superior. Sonic made a mental note to give the bullies that had beaten up Tails a lesson they wouldn't forget if he happened to lay eyes on them.

Sonic turned to look at Tails, who had unfortunately been reverted back to the state in which Sonic had found him: a scared and nervous little boy. He threw an arm around Tails' shoulder, surprising the lad.

"Don't worry, Tails." Sonic began, his voice filled with confidence. "I'll be right beside you. If any one of those idiots wants to get to you, they'll have to go through me first. I promise."

Tails only stood there, lost in thought. After a while, he looked at Sonic directly in the eyes and smiled at him, "Thank you" was all that the child could say. However, to Sonic, that was everything the cobalt speedster wanted to hear. Tails bent down and scooped T-pup in his arms and held him there tightly. He looked at Sonic briefly before going with him to town.

Needless to say, Sonic was really impressed with Tails' navigation ability as he guided them through the maze of the forest and made it to their destination in less than ten minutes. Sonic had decided to walk slowly, which was rather unusual for the speedy daredevil. For Tails' sake, however, he decided to break the habit, and he felt quite relaxed going at his leisure. As soon as they reached the city, Tails immediately hid behind Sonic, holding on to the hedgehog' arm like it was his lifeline. Sonic, understanding the fox's reason for discomfort, let him do as he pleased.

As they treaded, Sonic could tell that everyone was looking at Tails with unfriendly eyes. "Unfriendly" was an understatement, because in those icy glares, traces of hate and disgust were clearly visible. Tails was shaking as he could feel where those glares hit him. He grabbed Sonic's arm even more tightly and wished that they were over and done with. Sonic patted the child's head lightly with his free hand and smiled at Tails. That worked as the twin-tailed fox shyly smiled back and calmed down a bit.

The people in the city were surprised when they saw the infamous Sonic the hedgehog, whose fame obviously preceded him, in their neighborhood. They were thrilled; some were star-struck and even fainted after one single glance at the hero. However, all of them were shocked when they saw that the two-tailed fox that had come here the day before was walking side by side with Sonic. Sonic's sensitive ears could pick up the murmurings of some of the passers-by that sounded like, "What is the freak doing with Sonic?", "That monster should get its dirty paws of Sonic, it's defiling him.", "That thing doesn't deserve to be in the great hero's presence." And so on. Tails could hear some of what was being said, which made him shiver more. He didn't dare to look up and kept his head down all the time, afraid of meeting the hateful glares.

Sonic was mad, really mad, but he was doing his best to keep his anger under control. He wouldn't want to go on a rampage in a city, and he was more concerned about keeping Tails close by. He quickly walked down the street and headed to the chilidog stand that Tails had visited on his first day. Sonic planned on grabbing some chilidogs, his favorite food, and teaching the fat bear some manners for mistreating Tails. When they reached the stand, Sonic caught the bear's attention with a soft "Ahem", which worked. The big bear turned around and saw the blue blur in front of him, which practically made him jump with glee.

"Oh my…The Sonic the hedgehog is at my humble stand. What can I do for you?" said the bear with joy.

"Well yeah, I want two chilidogs for me and my pal here, pronto. He's really hungry." said Sonic as he pointed at Tails, who was still hiding behind the blue blur's back. If it weren't for his fluffy appendages, Tails would be completely invisible to the bear. The fat bear looked at the scared fox and instantly recognized him. His happy face disappeared, replaced by a frown. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the young fox cub.

"Okay, one chilidog coming right up." said the bear as he emphasized the word "one" for Sonic and Tails to hear. The way the bear had phrased it clearly made Tails feel hurt. His ears flattened against his skull, his tails went limp, and his eyes looked at his feet, fresh tears threatened to escape soon. To Tails, it was like having to relive his nightmare, but this was one he couldn't wake up from even if he desired so.

Sonic narrowed his eyes and curved his lips. He was at his boiling point. He had tried his hardest to ignore the rude comments directed at his new friend, and his patience was running thin, dangerously thin. If Tails hadn't been with him, he would have run on a rampage that would bring shame to the mad Robotnik's records. He let go of Tails' hands and went close to the counter. Sonic looked directly into the bear's eyes, which shocked him as he could see anger in the hedgehog's emerald orbs.

"I know you may be slightly stupid, so I'll repeat the order. I said TWO chilidogs for me and my starving friend." said Sonic as he made no attempt to show his contempt.

"But…I don't sell to fre…"

The bear didn't even finish his sentence, because he was interrupted by Sonic, who looked like he was ready to spin dash the fat owner into next Friday.

"Say that word," Sonic said to the bear, his voice dangerously low, "and I'll make you regret learning that word…or living." His threat was said very quietly, not loud enough for Tails to hear, but clearly more than enough to make the bear wet his pants. The bear was shaking. He was afraid of a small hedgehog that wasn't even half his size. However, this little hedgehog could and would carry out his threat if he was given enough incentive and reason, something that the bear had come really close to succeeding. He stood there, dumbfounded and stunned. After a while, he regained his senses. He looked at the confused Tails and the menacing, if not murderous, hedgehog In front of him and nodded slowly.

"Yes, mister Sonic. Two chilidogs coming right up." After that, he got down to making the chilidogs while Sonic waited at the counter. He briefly turned back and gave Tails a thumbs up, which made the kid smile a little, happy that he would finally get something to eat. He turned back at the bear, now scared half to death, and grinned at him evilly.

"That's better, pops. If you ignore my friend or anyone like him ever again, remember that I'm the fastest thing alive, and I'm watching you."

The smell of chilidogs made Tails' sensitive nose burst. He was really hungry, and smelling such an alluring and delicious smell only made his stomach growl even louder, something that Sonic could clearly hear as he looked at Tails briefly after the sound. Tails was happy, incredibly happy that he was given something to eat. It was new to the child. He had never been given anything for free in his life before. He felt a little uneasy, but mostly happy. For the first time, he was being treated like a normal civilian, not some freaky mistake made by Mother Nature.

Tails looked at Sonic's back and unconsciously smiled to himself. The fox was grateful for everything Sonic had done for him. The cobalt hero had bandaged him, comforted him, and even helped him understand the warmth of kindness and compassion. In his head, Tails had already lost count of how many times he had thanked his blue savior. He stood where he was, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at Sonic, whose back was still turned to him.

Tails heard footsteps approaching him from behind, but he didn't mind. Before he knew it, however, he found himself looking at some strange shadows, which were clearly not his own.

Slowly, Tails turned his head to look at the one whose shadow had covered him. As soon as he turned back, his face was met with a punch that sent the poor child flying. Tails fell to the ground, still confused at what had transpired until he felt the sting on his cheek. He gently touched the wounded spot and yelped as it stung. Tails looked back and saw the trio that had beaten him the previous day. The hound was the one that had punched Tails. The twin-tailed fox was trembling; he felt like his entire body was glued to the ground, he felt numb.

Sonic, at the sound of Tails' yelp, quickly turned around and saw a sight that didn't help improve his already rotten mood. He saw Tails on the ground trembling uncontrollably, and three larger teens coming straight at him. The hound in the middle was cracking his fingers as he approached to make him look intimidating.

"I told you to get off the island, freak." Said the hound, and the other two laughed.

As soon as they started pointing and laughing at Tails, who was already crying from the pain and humiliation, Sonic quickly spin dashed them, knocking them down. He quickly ran to Tails and helped him up.

"Tails, are you okay?" asked Sonic as he looked at the wound on Tails cheek. It was a very bad bruise.

"I'm going to be fine." Tails said between sobs as he tried to act brave. "I'm used to this, don't worry."

Sonic could tell the last statement was a lie. No matter how many times he had to endure that, Tails could never get used to it. He was trying to act brave so as not to worry Sonic; his efforts, however, were in vain. Sonic looked at the three bullies, who were wobbly trying to get back on their feet. They were stronger than Sonic had given them credit for. They looked at the blue blur and were shocked. They didn't understand why Sonic would defend a two-tailed freak that everyone hated. They couldn't comprehend something as simple as compassion.

Sonic returned their bewildered gazed with an icy glare of his own. The glare that suggested he was prepared to tear them to shreds like what he usually did to Robotnik's robots. He stepped forward. Before the three teens could even move, they were wrapped a blue blur and disappeared. A few seconds later, they reappeared in a fountain in the middle of the city, surprised, drenched, and publically humiliated. Some kids were giggling at them, while other people started whispering to themselves and pointed at them.

"Now, feel the pain that you have put my friend through." said Sonic, the orchestrator of the little appearing act. "If you so much as look at Tails again, you'd better hope you can run faster than me." After that, Sonic sped off to Tails. When h got back to Tails, the poor kid was still crying, and he was holding his tails in his hands in a futile attempt to hide them. Sonic touched the kid's shoulder and asked if he was okay, to which Tails replied he was, but Sonic knew better.

Sonic quickly grabbed the chilidogs and held Tails up in bridal style and sped off. At this point, Tails didn't even care about being carried by Sonic; he just wanted to get away from the city, away from those icy glares, away from everything that could hurt him. He only wanted to be alone.

With Sonic's speed, it didn't take long until they get back to the Tornado. During the entire length of the ride, Tails never stopped crying. He was crying quietly, shaking in Sonic's arms. His nightmare had become reality, and the child was undoubtedly frightened. Yet another scar had been formed in his innocent heart that, along with his numerous old ones, wouldn't heal anytime soon.

Sonic knew Tails was crying, but he didn't say anything. Nothing the hedgehog said would get through to Tails in his emotional agony. He cursed those bullies for hurting Tails yet again. However, his anger was directed more at himself. He had promised that he would protect Tails, yet he had turned his back on the kid, even if it had only been for a few seconds, Tails had been hurt. Sonic continued to chastise himself for his carelessness as he made his way for the Tornado.

Once they arrived, Sonic put Tails down in the cockpit. Sonic quickly treated ails' new injuries and put some bandages around them. Noticing that Tails was still sobbing, Sonic pulled the lad into a tight hug and tried to comfort his miserable friend.

"It's okay now, Tails." Sonic said with a soothing voice, "They can't hurt you here. I'm right here…I'm right here." Sonic began to stroke the kid's back gently.

Tails looked at Sonic's emerald eyes that seemed to tell no lie. The way the hedgehog looked at him was warm, and loving. One look into those orbs, and Tails could easily tell how sincere Sonic was. He managed to smile weakly at Sonic. After a while, Tails glared at his two tails with sad eyes, and looked like he was thinking about something, hesitation clearly shown in his eyes.

"Sonic," began Tails at last, "Could I ask you something?"

"Sure, Tails. Anything."

"When you said that I wasn't a freak, that I was special…Did you really mean it?"

Sonic sighed in frustration. Tails had zero self-esteem due to his emotional scars. Despite the fact that Sonic had had this conversation with the child before, Tails wasn't fully convinced. Sonic couldn't blame Tails, though. He would say it again and again if he had to, until Tails stopped regarding to himself as a freak. Sonic looked at Tails directly in the eyes.

"I meant every word I said, and I'll say it again. You are not a freak, you are you, Tails. You are special. If that isn't enough, I'll say it times and again until it sinks into your head."

Tears welled up in Tails' eyes again. This time, they were tears of joy. Just hearing from Sonic could make the child happy. Sonic didn't prejudice against him, he treated him like a normal living being. Overwhelmed with happiness, Tails hugged Sonic, surprising the hedgehog.

Sonic was having a little difficulty breathing, just like every other time Tails had hugged him. For someone so tiny, Tails sure had a strong grip, probably due to his many years of holding various tools. Just like every other time, Sonic didn't have the heart to refuse the child a hug. He reached out his hand and patted Tails' head lightly, waiting for Tails to settle down.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Chilidogs

Tails broke away from the hug he had given Sonic, and his face was slightly red from the realization of what he had done. Sonic simply ruffled the bangs on the kid's head and smiled at him kindly. Sonic was about to say something to Tails, but he was cut off by a really loud growl coming from the child's stomach. Knowing the source from whence the growl came, Sonic chuckled, while Tails' face turned even redder, clearly embarrassed. Tails realized he was acting like a kid, which he was, around Sonic and thought that Sonic would find his presence annoying. Contrary to the kid's imagination, however, Sonic found Tails adorable. He was at least acting like a kid he was, not a stoic loner like how the hedgehog had found him.

Sonic took out the bag that contained the two chilidogs he had purchased and took them out, handing one to Tails.

"Here Tails," said Sonic with a light-hearted tone, a smiled appeared on his face as he gave Tails a chilidog, "you must be really hungry, so help yourself."

Tails looked at the chilidog presented to him and looked at Sonic with wary eyes. Was it really alright for Tails to eat the chilidog? He had never been given anything for free before, so the child's suspicious and nervous reaction was understandable, even toward Sonic. He stretched his arm and tried to grab the chilidog, albeit hesitantly, and his hand was shaking. Tails glanced at Sonic before grabbing the delicious treat in front of him to make sure it was really okay. Sonic didn't move, he remained still, the smile never left his face. For someone that never liked to slow down, Sonic was really patient with Tails. Sonic's smile grew wider as Tails' hand got closer to the chilidog, subtly encouraging the kid to go on.

Tails, after seeing Sonic's smile, decided to grab the chilidog. Once he did, Sonic simply let go of the chilidog and turned around to enjoy his own. Tails looked at Sonic as he began to eat. The huge chilidog was finished in two bites. The way Sonic had eaten made Tails let out a chuckle. He quickly covered his mouth to make sure Sonic didn't see that, but he did anyway.

"Can't I eat my favorite food the way I want?" said Sonic with a playful tone, which made Tails laugh even louder.

"You look really funny, Sonic." said Tails as he pointed at the chili sauce on Sonic's face. The hedgehog realized what Tails was implying and quickly wiped it off. "Put on a hat and some colorful clothes and you'll be the most fabulous jester ever." continued Tails, who was childishly giggling at the hedgehog.

"Nah, I'm no good with clowns." said Sonic as he put his hands behind his head and lied down on the Tornados's wing. "Besides, this world already has a clown."

"Who's that?" asked Tails inquisitively as his eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Ro-butt-nik, of course. You should see the way he dresses. I don't know what kind of fashion magazine he reads, but I can tell it sucks…a lot."

Tails laughed really hard at this remark. He had never seen Robotnik in person before, but he had seen his pictures, and he did look really funny with his red jacket over a black jumpsuit. He did look funny, and the way Sonic intentionally mispronounced his name only made the kid laugh harder.

"Tails," said Sonic in an attempt to snap Tails out of his fit of laughing, "you should really eat that before it gets cold."

"Yeah, you're right." Tails replied as he calmed down. He stared at the chilidog curiously like he was studying a strange and undiscovered species before taking a small bite. It was delicious how the numerous flavors combined and exploded in his mouth. Tails had never eaten anything that good before, and joy could clearly be seen in his eyes from the way they sparkled. He took a larger bite and another one until the entire chilidog was in his stomach. He licked his lips and his fingers, still wanting to eat more.

"That was delicious." Tails said as he lightly tapped his hands on his tummy.

"Of course, it's the best food in the entire world."

Tails was really happy that he got to eat; in fact, he was so happy that he completely forgot about the throbbing pain on his cheek where he had been punched.

"I could eat another twenty of that." Tails said, which made Sonic chuckle.

"And they say I'm a sucker for chilidogs!"

After that remark, they started laughing again. Tails' large triangular ears perked up and he looked at Sonic with his big sapphire eyes, a gesture that Sonic returned. Sonic could clearly see the sparkle in those large blue orbs as they stared at him. At that moment, the blue hedgehog thought he was looking at the sky itself. The kid's eyes shone brilliantly, and from them, Sonic could see into the fox's soul. He could see happiness radiating from those gems. Tails continued to look at Sonic for a little while longer, thinking about everything that Sonic had done for his sake. The fox smiled innocently and spoke to his speedy idol.

"Thank you, Sonic." said Tails softly, "you're the best person I've ever met."

"Don't mention it, buddy." said Sonic as he sat up and gave Tails a thumbs up. "That's what friends are for, after all."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Friends

"Fiends." Tails repeated the word in his head for the hundredth time after Sonic had first said it. To Tails, the word sounded strange, foreign, and unfamiliar. He had always called his mechanical creations his friends, but never had anyone referred to him as such. No one had used that endearing term when they spoke to the child. Ever since he was born, all of Tails' "friends" had either been mechanical or imaginary. That Sonic, the world's greatest hero, called him his friend was incredible. He sat where he was, still repeating that one simple word in his mind. A big smile appeared on the kid's face as the word echoed in his head.

Sonic noticed the fox's unusual, but not alarming, silence, but as soon as he noticed the big and childish smile on the child's muzzle, a grin formed on his own face. Sonic reached out his hand and gently scratched Tails' head and his big triangular ears and saw them twitch slightly. At the same time, Tails seemed to be letting out some purring sound in contentment. After a while, Tails unconsciously yawned the biggest yawn Sonic had ever seen the kid made. All his tiny sharp teeth were revealed to Sonic as the kid opened his mouth. Having lived in the middle of a warzone and in fear for too long had left Tails sleep-deprived. Despite the twin-tailed fox's long slumber the day before, he still needed more.

"You should really get some rest, kiddo." said Sonic. "You look like you could really use some of it."

Tails only nodded in response. He was too sleepy and tired to utter a word. He lied down on the pilot's seat and curled himself up out of habit. Soon, he slowly closed his heavy eyelids and fell into another peaceful slumber. As soon as Tails closed his eyes, Sonic heard soft snores coming from the kid.

Sonic looked at the bandaged kid sleeping in front of him for a little while longer to make sure he was really asleep. Once that was confirmed, the speedy hero sighed in relief. He jumped down from the Tornado's wing and landed safely on his feet. Sonic turned around and looked at the Tornado and finally remembered the one thing he had completely forgotten ever since he came to Westside Island: getting his beloved biplane fixed. Sonic had been too concerned about Tails to remember his plane. Now that Tails was asleep, and it was still noon, Sonic figured he could run to the city and find a mechanic, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a mechanic, and an incredibly gifted one at that, right in front of him. The blue hedgehog took out a pencil and a memo to write a note for Tails.

"T-pup," said Sonic as he turned to the robotic fox behind him, "look after your buddy, okay. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail, or one shake of his tails." Sonic chuckled to himself when the mechanical fox barked in response. Sonic actually felt really bad about leaving Tails alone like that. However, his mind reasoned that nobody could possibly find the Tornado's location thanks to the forest maze, and that the kid was safe. He left at top speed to get his endeavor over and done with.

Back to Tails, as soon as Sonic had left, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He tossed and turned in the pilot's seat and opened his eyes to scan around. Tails' face turned pale when he couldn't see the familiar blue figure anywhere, and began to wonder if Sonic had left him behind. However, out of the corner of his eye, Tails caught sight of a piece of paper with his name on it. He opened it and quickly read through the carelessly scribbled words.

Dear Tails,

I'll be going to town for a little while to look for someone who can fix the Tornado. Be back as soon as I can.

Sonic the hedgehog.

PS: Don't run off anywhere on your own.

Tails read the note again and again to make sure he had read correctly. After that, he smacked himself in the head and said to himself in a mocking tone, "Great going Miles! He has done a lot for you and you still doubt him. What an idiot." Tails looked at the note again and smiled in relief. The fact that he was sitting inside the Tornado's cockpit only helped reinforce his faith. He was about to go back to sleep, but it hit him.

"Wait a minute?" said Tails as he flung his eyes open and sat straight up, earning himself a short headache. "Fix the Tornado? Maybe I can do it. I can do something for Sonic in return for all he has done for me." Tails congratulated himself on his brilliant idea.

Tails looked around the plane for something that he could work with. His eyes lit up when he caught sight of a tool kit in the back seat of the plane. "This will do." Tails exclaimed excitedly as he opened the kit and checked the tools it contained. At this moment, all the sleepiness and fatigue Tails had been experiencing completely vanished. He was too excited. Quickly twisting his namesakes together, Tails flew around the Tornado in circle to assess the damage. On the outside, the Tornado was fine, apart from the broken wing. Tails opened the plane's hatch and saw a maze of complex and sophisticated circuits. A normal person would close the hatch in resignation, but not Tails. The sight of the beautiful circuitry in front of him only made Tails more enthusiastic. He had never seen a real plane before, so it was a chance for him to learn something new. Using his unrivaled intellect, Tails quickly memorized the complex circuitry in a matter of minutes.

"That's still working…that can be fixed…but the main engine is down, nothing can be done about that."

Tails finally found the main problem with the Tornado apart from the busted wing. The biplane's main engine was struck by lightning and it broke down entirely. In order for the Tornado to take flight again, the toasted engine needed to be replaced. The process could take quite some time, but that was not the genius' fox main concern. If he had the right materials, he could easily build a new engine with ease, but he didn't have any. As the twin-tailed fox walked around pondering on what to do, he suddenly came up with a great solution.

"The Sea Fox!" Tails exclaimed enthusiastically. "How could I forget about the Sea Fox?" Tails smacked his head once again, "silly old me."

After that, Tails grabbed the tool kit along with T-pup and made a mad dash for his prized submarine. The Sea Fox was still at the same spot Tails had left it, and in the same state after its last voyage, broken and irreparable.

Tails quickly got closer to the Sea Fox and smiled at his once magnificent partner. The kid gently placed his hand on his beloved creation and looked at it with both sadness and joy in his eyes.

"I need your help, partner." said Tails as he ran his hand along the Sea Fox's body, "We have a new mission."

Tails looked at his old submarine one last time and quietly muttered "Thank you," just loud enough for him to hear. After that, Tails proceeded to dismantle the Sea Fox. The first thing he did with the metal he got from the Sea Fox was repair T-pup's broken leg and some of his functions that would help him in transporting the metal back, including the flight and magnet functions. The repair of T-pup didn't cot much, and Tails knew there was more than enough to help fix the Tornado with the remaining materials.

T-pup, using his repaired magnet function, helped Tails move the metal back to the Tornado. They had to make a lot of trips due to the amount of metals they had to carry. After about half an hour of flying from and back to the Tornado, Tails had managed to gather everything he needed. He stretched his gloves and got down to business.

Tails moved around like a true professional he was. He did all the calculations and all the handiwork all by himself. He moved with great enthusiasm as his nimble fingers worked their magic. The way Tails worked would surely make the oldest and most experienced of mechanics tip their hats off to him if they happened to stumble on the scene. He managed to do all the work that would normally require a team of ten people to accomplish with amazing speed and grace. After approximately an hour, Tail was done fixing up the Tornado's broken wing. The Tornado was soon restored to its former beauty; in fact it never looked better.

After fixing the wing, Tails moved on to the next thing on his agenda, replacing the main engine. Luckily for Tails, the Tornado used the same engine as the Sea Fox, and the latter's engine was still working despite everything it had gone through. Tails almost couldn't believe his luck. He smiled to himself and quickly got down to replacing the Tornado's fried engine. He quickly studied the wires and carefully took the busted engine out, and pt the Sea Fox's engine in. After a few minutes, the Tornado was fixed.

Not satisfied with just fixing the Tornado, Tails gave it a complete makeover with the remaining material he had left. He actually upgraded the booster, added some of the Sea Fox's weapons into the plane and slightly altered the plane's appearance to make it go faster. The leftover metals were used to fix and upgrade some of T-pup's functions, effectively making the robotic fox better than before.

Two hours had passed, and the genius fox was done with the task he had set out to do. In the middle of the beach stood the Tornado in all of its majesty and glory under the sunlight. The red biplane was even more impressive than the one Tails had seen in newspapers. Tails had never been prouder in his entire life. Finally, he could give Sonic something in return for all he had given the fox. He cleaned up and put the tools away.

"Well done, Tails." Tails congratulated himself on his success; his tails were twitching uncontrollably in excitement and pride. Tails was so busy admiring with the newly repaired and modified Tornado that he didn't even realize how dirty he was. His body was more black than yellow and so were his gloves and tails. He was completely covered in grease and oil.

After the moment had passed, Tails sat down as the fatigue and hunger came back to him. Tails had really outdone himself. He sat down on the sandy shore and continued to admire the fruit of his efforts. T-pup quickly flew to Tails and sat on his lap.

"Well, T-pup, how do you think Sonic is going to react when he lays eyes on his plane?" said Tails as he motioned his hands toward the Tornado. T-pup barked as he looked at his master in the eyes.

"You're right," said Tails as he flashed a smile at his robotic friend, "he's in for the biggest surprise of his life." Tails began to laugh innocently when he imagined the look on Sonic's face when the hedgehog came back. Just the mere thought was more than enough to excite the fox.

His line of thoughts, however, was disrupted by the familiar growl from his stomach. After all, Tails had been working nonstop for almost three hours, and the hard work had left him drained. He was starving. He needed to eat something. Forcing his legs to stand up, Tails looked around for something to eat. However, he didn't realize the approaching shadow behind him.

"Target indentified: Sonic the hedgehog's aircraft." said the monotone and mechanical voice. Tails' ears perked up and the kid turned around to look at the source of the strange voice. To his surprise, he found a large robot standing right behind him with its missile launchers aimed at the Tornado.

"Commencing immediate destruction." the robot continued. After the last word had been spoken, the robot launched the missiles at the Tornado. When Tails saw that the Tornado was about t be blown to bits after all he had gone through to fix it, he immediately ordered T-pup to intercept the incoming missiles. With his nifty magnets, T-pup quickly pulled the missiles away from their targets and made them hit each other, exploding on impact at a safe distance.

"Interferences. New target acquired. Danger level: high. Commencing immediate destruction." said the robot as it turned to Tails instead. The fox was slightly scared, but he quickly regained his composure. Thanks to his battles with the Armada, he had a lot of experience dealing with simple-minded robots. The robot launched mini missiles at Tails, but the fox didn't faze. He launched himself forward and used his tails to gain extra speed. Tails swiftly dodged the mini missiles meant for him and took to the sky. The robot didn't respond fast enough to the fox's sudden maneuver. Seizing his chance, Tails stopped spinning his namesakes and let the force of gravity pull him directly to the robot for extra power. When he was within range, he performed a spin in mid-air and slammed his two tails on the robot's head with a force so strong that the robot's head was split in half. It stopped functioning after the brain was destroyed and exploded. Tails was caught in the blast radius ad was knocked backward. He was slightly charred, but otherwise perfectly unharmed.

"Yes!" Tails exclaimed. "Eat that, bolt brain." He gave T-pup a thumbs-up, unconsciously mimicking Sonic's signature post, to congratulate his little pet. However, their celebration was short-lived, for they heard heavy mechanical footsteps coming from the forest, and they knew there more were coming.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: A friend in need

Back to the blue blur three hours ago. After Sonic had written the note and stuck it somewhere Tails could easily find when he woke up, Sonic sped off in search of a mechanic. Sonic easily reached the city thanks to Tails' marks in the forest, to which he was truly thankful; he really didn't want to waste time navigating through a maze, and he really wanted to get the search over and done with so that he could go back to Tails. The kid was still emotionally unstable, and Sonic wasn't in favor of leaving such a fragile child alone for a long time. He only took the chance now that Tails was asleep, or so he had thought.

Sonic ran around the big city and asked around for the addresses of every single mechanic living there. He visited many different workshops of various sizes. Much to the speedy blue's annoyance, however, he was turned down in every shop he visited once he gave the mechanics working there the details and specs of his plane. Sonic's plane used extremely advanced technology, so it wasn't easy to find parts for it. Sonic continued his search regardless.

Even with his legendary speed that he was known for, Sonic still had difficulty finding his way in a strange city, because he had never been here before. Running around hour after hour really made Sonic tired. No matter where he went, he only received the same reply. After about two hours of searching, he reached the biggest workshop in the city.

Sonic walked in and asked for the chief mechanic. An old hawk came out to greet the hero. Sonic gave the hawk the specs of the engine, half expecting the same reply. To his relief, however, the hawk said he could find the engine. However, the engine would only be available in two weeks' time. Deciding that having to wait was a much better option than having to spend the rest of his life on Westside Island, he accepted the offer and left. Two and a half hour had already passed, and Sonic decided that he should go back to check up on Tails. Stopping by briefly at a chilidog stand along the way, Sonic bought four chilidogs for himself and the fox, remembering how much he enjoyed the food. After that, he headed straight for the Tornado.

When Sonic was still running in the forest, his sensitive ears picked up a strange explosion sound coming from the beach. The hero's face turned pale as he feared that something bad had happened to Tails, an assumption that wasn't really far off the mark. After a long silence, Sonic heard another explosion coming from the same direction. If the blue blur had been worrying about Tails' safety before, he was fearing for the child's life now. Two explosions coming from the same direction, surely it couldn't have been a coincidence. The blue blur picked up the pace and headed for the beach. A few seconds later, he was out of the forest, and the first thing that he saw was anything but pleasant.

Sonic could clearly see three huge robots coming toward Tails and two destroyed bots lying in front of them. Before he managed to call out, he saw Tails dodge the robot's punch and hit its arm with his namesakes, effectively disarming it. After that, the kid kneeled down and swept his tails on the robot's legs, making it lose balance and fall on top of the one behind it. However, Tails was grabbed by the third one because he didn't have the chance to recover from his attack, and the fact that the kid was exhausted made him even more vulnerable.

Seeing Tails within the robot's clutch made Sonic mad. If other people bullied the kid, he could hold back his anger for he didn't want to seriously injure anyone. However, if robots hurt him, it was a different story entirely. Without warning, the robot that was grabbing Tails was hit by the hedgehog's spin dash and exploded immediately. Tails shook his head vigorously to clear his blurry vision and saw the one that had saved him from his imminent demise, Sonic the hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed with great joy in his shaky voice. He was on the verge of tears, his moist blue eyes transfixed on Sonic. "I'm so glad you came back."

"Of course I came back." Sonic replied with his usual cheerful tone, effectively masking his growing anger. "Now, stay back Tails, and leave the rest to me."

Tails nodded and sat back, too tired to lift a muscle. Sonic then sprinted forward and curved into a ball, hitting the remaining two robots. The blow made them fall sideways and Sonic was now above them. In one swift motion, Sonic curled into a ball again and dropped down on one of the robots below, destroying it. The other robot unleashed a barrage of missiles at Sonic, but they were no match the hero's speed. Quickly dodging the missiles, Sonic launched a spin dash right on the robot's torso and tore through it. All that happened in seconds, and the menacing robots were nothing more than scraps.

Tails watched the battle ensure from a relatively safe distance, and was awed by how impressive Sonic was. It was the first time he had ever seen his speedy idol in action. Tails simply sat there and admired the hedgehog. After the destruction of the three robots, Sonic quickly ran to Tails and kneeled down to his level.

"Tails? Are you alright?" Sonic asked with a worried voice, greatly concerned about the child's well-being. He took a quick look at Tails and noticed how dirty he was. His fur was almost black, and there were a few bruises on his arms where the robot had grabbed him.

"I'm fine, Sonic." replied the fox weakly in an attempt to calm Sonic down. Sonic clearly didn't look convinced, however. He was half scared to death by what he had witnessed. That robot could have killed Tails had he not been fast enough. Once again, Sonic cursed himself for letting Tails get hurt again, this time even worse than the last.

"Come on, kid, let's go back to the Tornado so I can fix you up."

"The Tornado!" Tails suddenly yelled with a voice so loud that it made Sonic fall back on his butt.

"What...what's wrong Tails? Did something happen to the Tornado? Did you get hurt?" Sonic asked frantically, fearing the answer.

" Well, something did happen to the Tornado, but you won't believe me if I tell you. You just have to see it for yourself, Sonic." Tails said with a tone that did little to mask his excitement, which Sonic, in his moment of panic, misinterpreted as Tails being frantic. Sonic looked questioningly at Tails with a raised eyebrow, but he soon followed Tails back to the Tornado. In his mind, he pictured a complete wreck of a plane. Little did he know he was in for the biggest surprise he had ever seen in his life.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Surprises

Sonic gave Tails a piggy back ride as the kid was too exhausted; even lifting a muscle was hard work to him at the moment. Sonic tried to anticipate the worst that could have happened to Tails and the Tornado during his absence. A few more minutes passed and they finally reached the biplane. When the sight of the Tornado entered Sonic's field of vision, he was stunned, almost dropping Tails to the ground. In front of Sonic was the Tornado that he knew and loved, but as the same time, it wasn't. The Tornado looked like a completely different plane, with a much cooler appearance. Sonic found himself lost for words, despite his usual chattiness. He was too shocked and surprised to say anything; he only turned his head slowly to glance at the giggling yellow fox that he was carrying.

Tails had popped his head out to look at Sonic's amazed expression. Although he didn't catch the full view of the hedgehog's shocked face, he still felt satisfied by the way the blue blur's jaw almost hit the ground, figuratively speaking. He couldn't help but giggle at that face. Sonic put Tails down and looked at him. At that moment, the hedgehog's face was fully revealed to the kid, which made him struggle not to laugh out loud.

"Who…What…How…Tails….This…huh?" was all the normally talkative hero could manage; apparently, the surprise still got the better of him. He motioned his hand at the Tornado and back to Tails. "Did you do this?" he spoke at last.

Tails nodded vigorously, completely forgetting about his fatigue. "Yep, I fixed the Tornado to pay you back for what you've done for me." said the fox with a huge smile on his innocent face.

"What exactly have I done for you to make you go through all the troubles, kiddo?" Sonic said with joy in his voice, amazed by Tails' skills with machines.

"For helping me…and for being…my friend." Tails said, his voice grew quieter and quieter as the words came out. The last words were almost whispers, but Sonic could hear him, loud and clear. At that moment, the shocked face disappeared and gave way to a smile slowly crossing the hedgehog's muzzle. He looked at the innocent face of the kid sitting cross-legged in front of him. "How can he say such cute things without getting embarrassed?" thought Sonic to himself. The way Tails was beaming with joy made the hero happy. Sonic was about to make a comment, but once again, the kid's rumbling stomach beat him to it. Tails, out of habit, covered his tummy and looked down as his face became red.

"Who wants some chilidogs?" asked Sonic as he showed Tails a bag of chilidogs he had bought.

"Me." Tails instantly responded to the hedgehog's question and raised his hand like a child that wanted to catch the teacher's attention in class. Sonic still found it hard to believe that such an adorable and innocent kid could fix up an entire plane that many adults had turned down by the mere mention of it. Furthermore, the fact that he had done so within three hours made it more impressive.

"Okay, settle down, genius." said Sonic as he slowly sat down. "No need to rush. Here you go."

Sonic then opened the bag and let the smell of chilidogs assault the fox's sensitive nose.

Tails was too hungry to think straight. When he saw the chilidogs in front of him, the kid went straight in and grabbed three of them. Before Sonic could voice his protest, the fox took a large bite from each chilidog and quickly devoured them. Sonic, once again, found himself at a loss for words. He had bought four chilidogs for the both of them, three of which were devoured by the fox in less than a minute. However, it wasn't his concern. Judging from the pace at which Tails had eaten, Sonic could really see how hungry the kid really was, and worried if he had had enough to eat.

Tails, after gulping the last piece of chilidog in his mouth, suddenly felt the stare of the hedgehog. He turned and saw Sonic's serious face looking at his own. The fox glanced down at the open bag and saw that there was only one chilidog left, and he figured everything out. He had eaten Sonic's share, so Sonic could be mad. Tails dropped his jaw at the realization and looked at Sonic with remorseful eyes.

"I'm sorry, I really am sorry, Sonic. Please don't be mad." Tails said with a weak voice, still thinking that his action had earned him the hedgehog's wrath.

"What?" said Sonic as he was broken out of his trance by the kid's voice. "Why are you saying sorry, Tails?" Tails didn't answer, instead he pointed at the remaining chilidog in the bag. The kid's ears fell flat on top of his skull, and his tails stopped wiggling. From his looks, Sonic could tell that Tails was really sorry and worried at the same time, worried that Sonic would yell at him.

"Nah, it's okay, it's good that you have an appetite, Tails." Sonic remarked. It was Tails' turn to be surprised.

"So, you're not mad at me?" Tails asked, making no attempt to hide his surprise.

"Why would I be? I can get as many of these as I want, so it's fine. If you're still hungry, you can have the last one."

"Nah, I'm good, I'm full." Tails used his tails to push the bag toward Sonic. The embarrassment from the way he had accidently stolen Sonic's meal made him lose his appetite.

"Okay, if you say so." Sonic said as he picked the chilidog up and fully devoured it in two bites.

Tails was still embarrassed by how he had acted, and just remained silent. Sonic, however, noticed the child's discomfort and tried to come up with a topic to get his mind off of that incident. He glanced at the Tornado, a smile spread across his face.

"So Tails," said Sonic as he tried to get the guilt-ridden kid's attention, "Where did you get the stuff you need to fix the Tornado?"

"Well, I dismantled the Sea Fox, my submarine, and used the metals for the Tornado's wing. Luckily for me, your plane used the same engine as my submarine, so I only needed to replace the busted one with the working one, and done." said Tails in one breath. He was always excited about any topic that concerned technology, and Sonic's question hit his switch, turning his mechanic mode on.

"What?" asked Sonic in the most surprised tone he had, "you tore apart your favorite submarine?"

Sonic almost couldn't believe how calm Tails was. He had seen Tails' joyful and proud reaction when he had first completed the underwater transport in T-pup's footage. Sonic knew just how much the submarine meant for the little cub. That Tails would tear apart something so dear, so beloved to him just to fix Sonic's plane was unbelievable.

"Don't worry about it, Sonic." said Tails calmly as he had seemingly read the hedgehog's mind, "The Sea Fox was already out of commission. The fuel was empty, the gears stopped working, the functions failed and most of the engines were dead. She couldn't be repaired no matter how hard I try. So let's just say that the Sea Fox has completed her final voyage."

Tails looked at the Tornado briefly, and then continued, "Besides, I think I've given the Sea Fox a new life now that she is part of the Tornado, and a new purpose, too. That doesn't sound weird, right?" Tails lowered his voice, worried that Sonic might laugh at his childish comment.

Sonic was slightly taken aback by Tails' words. To the kid, his creations were more than mere tools. They always held a special place in the fox's heart. Tails always saw his mechanical masterpieces as his friends, allies, or even family. He treated them like they were living beings with emotions. Sonic admired Tails' innocence. "The only thing that's more gold than his fur is probably his heart." Sonic thought to himself as he admired the kid's love for his inventions. Tails had always treated everything in his life with respect and love, but sadly, he was never on the receiving end of such affections, until Sonic came along.

"You must really love machines, huh Tails?"

"Yeah, you can say that. I've always loved inventing since I was young…well, younger. I really want to build things that can help other people, not blow them up like those robots we saw back there."

Now that Tails mentioned it, the memory came back to Sonic. He had already forgotten about the robots attacking Tails. Even though Sonic hadn't taken a close look at them, he still recognized the design. There was only one mad man he knew would build robots that looked like big walking eggs.

"Robotnik!" said Sonic with a sharp voice. "If those robots are here, then he must be here too."

"Nah, I don't think so." Tails interrupted, "I have checked their database that T-pup managed to download from a fallen robot. They just arrived on the island at noon, and there were only five of them. If there had been more, T-pup's radar would have been able to pick up and pin point their locations. There is no smoke or fire in the city's direction, so it's safe to conclude there is no robot in town. Besides, their weaponry was strong but simple, not enough to completely take over and control an entire city. My conclusion is that they were simply spies, equipped with standard weapons to protect themselves and gather intelligence on the island. If that is true then Robotnik is not on the island, but I can't rule out the possibility that he is not planning an invasion. Furthermore, there is…"

Tails stopped talking the moment he saw Sonic's face, which clearly showed the hedgehog's surprise.

"Sorry, I'm talking too much…" said Tails as he looked down at his feet, thinking he had annoyed Sonic with his endless babbling. He tended to do that occasionally.

Sonic looked at the change in the kid's expression and knew what the problem was. He patted the kid's shoulder and smiled at him.

"No, you're not. Actually, I'm amazed by how much you know. The way you analyze the details and everything sounds really…detailed. Heck, I can never think things through like that."

"Well, I have first-hand experience on reconnaissance, so I know that much." said Tails as he chuckled.

"What's a "reconnaissance"…oh forget I asked. Since when did T-pup have a radar?"

"When I finished fixing the Tornado, I used the spare material on T-pup. His leg is fine now, and he can use a variety of useful functions, the radar is one of those. You should have seen the way he handled the missiles aimed at the Tornado. In fact, you should have seen the way we kicked their robotic butts."

"Tails, if you're really good at fighting, why do you let other people bully you? With your skills, you can easily stand up to them if you really want to."

"I'm only good at fighting because of the incident with the Armada. Truth is I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want them to hate me more than they already do. I don't want to resort to violence. I hate violence and try to avoid it if I can help it. I just…I…I…" Tails' voice trailed off as he remembered about all the unpleasant things he had gone through. He had yet to fully recover from the trauma, and he doubted that he would be able to. No matter how much he wanted, Tails couldn't run away from his own past, his own memories. His eyes began to tear up as he spoke.

Sonic realized he had made a grave mistake. Even though he hadn't meant to upset the kid, he had accidently done so by reminding Tails about his past.

"Tails? Are you alright?" Sonic asked with great concern, fearing that his innocent question has caused the fox a lot of pain.

"I'm okay." said Tails firmly as he wiped away his tears. "I'm fine now, those memories don't hurt as much as they used to." Tails looked at Sonic, "thanks to you Sonic. Thank you for helping me."

Sonic ruffled the fox's bangs gently and smiled. "How could they hurt such a sweet boy like Tails." was all that ran through the hedgehog's mind. Tails, at the touch of Sonic's hand, yawned cutely and fell asleep almost immediately in Sonic's lap. Looking at the sleeping fox, Sonic decided that he would make Tails' life better and gave him everything he deserved. He was thinking about taking Tails with him when he left the island. Sonic just sat there imagining all the fun they could have, all the adventures they could go on. Life of a hero had given Sonic many things, but it was that very life that prevented Sonic from having the one thing he desired the most: a friend. Sonic didn't dare to get close to anyone, fearing that Robotnik would hurt them to get to him, so he stayed distant. On the outside, Sonic acted like a cheerful and charismatic hero, but on the inside, he was just a lonely hedgehog wishing for a companion. He knew that by being with him, Tails would have to deal with many difficulties, mainly Robotnik; but for the kid's sake, Sonic made it his responsibility to protect Tails, even if it cost him his life. He smiled at the idea and looked at Tails, excited to tell the kid his decision when he woke up.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Doubts and determination

Tails was fast asleep on the ground. Sonic didn't really want him to sleep there, but he didn't want to wake the kid up either. Ever since he met Sonic, he had been able to sleep well. Even in his sleep, he could still feel the protective presence of the hedgehog beside him. Tails felt safe and at ease; he knew his friend was right beside him, protecting him. Despite only knowing Sonic for about two days, Tails had come to trust the hedgehog entirely and unquestionably.

They say that time heals all wounds, and it certainly did Tails. His scars and bruises had healed, and he was much healthier than before. However, there are scars that time itself can't even touch, much less heal. Those are the emotional scars, caused by extreme trauma. For Tails, this proved to be true. Two days was enough to heal all physical wounds, but not enough to erase all the memories of Tails' past. Even after meeting Sonic, Tails' memories still came back to haunt him in the form of recurring nightmares. In his sleep, Tails had to relive his days on Cocoa Island, from the battles against the Battle Bird Armada, to the day he left his home and everything in between. He was alone in the thick darkness, hurt, lonely and lost. No one would come for him, no one would show him kindness. He was all alone.

Suddenly, the thick darkness surrounding the kid was lifted. A bright light pierced through the black veil and color returned to his world. In that bright and colorful world, a figure stood. He moved closer to Tails and lent him a hand. Tails unconsciously accepted the hand offered to him and stood up from where he was. It was that moment that Tails saw who the figure was, a blue hedgehog. He was smiling. The hedgehog pulled him into a loving and warm embrace. Within those arms, Tails felt safe and protected. In those arms, where no darkness could reach him, Tails cried tears of joy.

The dream came to an abrupt end as the kid flung his eyes open at the sound of someone yelling his name. He looked up and saw Sonic looking at him with worried eyes. Apparently, Tails had been tossing about in his sleep. At some point, he even cried and whimpered, an expression of pure agony appeared on his face. Sonic had been trying to wake him up for a while, frantically screaming the kid's name while shaking him vigorously.

"So…Sonic?" Tails asked, confused as to why Sonic was looking at him he had seen a ghost.

"Are you okay Tails? You were shouting and crying in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare?"

Now that Sonic mentioned it, Tails could feel a tear run down his cheek. The fox quickly woke up and wiped the tear away, trying to calm himself down.

"Sonic, how long have I been sleeping?" asked Tails as he noticed that it was dark.

"Six hours, until you screamed into my ears. They still hurt." Sonic answered jokingly.

"Sorry about that."

"Nah, I was just taking a short nap anyway." Sonic looked at Tails with serious eyes, "Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a bad dream, no biggie." Tails really tried his best to be cheerful. As a matter of fact, the kid was still a little frightened about having to relive his painful memories.

Sonic looked at Tails, who was clearly still tired and sleepy, with the most serious face the hedgehog could work up. Tails was a little surprised by the way Sonic was staring at him, wondering if he had accidently done something to upset the hedgehog.

"Tails." Sonic began, breaking the silence, "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Tails asked curiously as he tilted his head and looked at Sonic with his innocent blue eyes.

"Well, I've been thinking. You have nowhere to go, right?"

Tails nodded sadly, "Yeah, story of my life." He chuckled to himself as he said those words.

"Well, since you've fixed the Tornado, there's finally a way to get out of this island, so…"

"Actually, Sonic." Tails interrupted the hedgehog, "Now that you mention it, can I hitch a ride with you?"

No sooner had he said those words than Sonic looked at him with his eyes wide open. Sonic could tell what Tails had meant from the way the fox had phrased his sentence. He was about to speak some sense into the fox, but he was once again cut off.

"I was thinking maybe you can take me to an uninhabited place so I can live in peace, without anyone bothering me. I know you have your hero's duties to tend to, so I don't want to stand in your way, but I'd be glad if you could visit me…occasionally." Tails said. His cheerful gestures and tone did little to help disguise the sadness in his voice.

Tails had been thinking about this ever since he fixed the Tornado. He knew that Sonic would one day leave, and he really didn't want to bother the speedy hero. Another reason was that he was afraid his presence could cause a lot of trouble for the speedster if people found them together. For those reasons, he had decided to ask Sonic to take him to a place where he could not be seen, away from civilization, where he could spend his days being himself, completely free from the icy glares or the hurtful insults. Sonic may have accepted him, but that didn't mean everybody else would be willing to do the same. Tails was afraid of getting his hopes up again.

Sonic was speechless. He thought he had helped Tails get over his trauma, but apparently, it ran deeper than he had expected. Sonic shook his head and went closer to Tails. He put both hands on the child's shoulders and locked his eyes into the kid's teary orbs.

"Tails," Sonic began, "I'm not going to leave you behind."

Tails didn't say anything. When he tried to look away, Sonic touched tge kid's chin, forcing him to look at Sonic. "What I was going to say to you is…" Sonic inhaled and exhaled, trying to break the news to the kid, "You're coming with me to my house. You're going to live with me from now on."

"What?" Tails asked in surprise, not quite believing he had heard Sonic correctly. To say that Tails was taken aback by the hedgehog's words was the greatest understatement ever. The expression on the fox's face spoke volumes. The look on his face described shock, surprise, thrill, uncertainty, joy and doubt.

"Are you…serious? You're kidding, right?" Tails asked, still not believing Sonic's words.

"I'm dead serious Tails." Sonic replied, "What do you say Do you want to come live with me? Or do yu want to spend the rest of your life alone?'

At that moment, happiness was all that Tails could feel. That Sonic, the world's greatest hero, would take him, was the most incredible thing that could happen to Tails. After all those years of wishing for a friend, he finally got one. Tails was so happy that he couldn't stop himself from crying again. At last, he had a friend, a companion. In the heat of the moment, ails tackled the unsuspected hedgehog to the ground and hugged him as tightly as he could. Sonic, despite being slightly surprised by the kid's sudden assault, felt happy as he looked at the crying child hugging him. His chest was soaked, but he didn't mind. After what seemed like an eternity for the two friends, Tails calmed down and thanked Sonic in his sobs.

"Ah, Tails buddy," said Sonic as he struggled to breathe, "Could you…loosen the grip a bit…I can't get any bluer than this."

Tails immediately broke the hug and apologized to Sonic for choking him. Sonic chuckled and gave Tails a thumbs-up, a gesture that Tails shyly returned with one of his own.

"It's getting late, Tails. Get some real sleep this time. You don't want to be late for your flight tomorrow."

Tails nodded and quickly jumped into the passenger's seat of the Tornado and forced his eyes shut. However, it proved difficult for the kid to sleep, for h was still too excited by the hedgehog's words. He tossed and turned, waiting impatiently for the sun to come up.

Sonic jumped into the cockpit. When he was about to lie down, he looked at Tails and thought for a while. After a few seconds, Sonic jumped into the passenger's seat with the fox, who was still struggling to get a shuteye. Sonic's sudden appearance surprised the kid a little.

"Sonic? What are you doing?"

"Well, I've decided to sleep with you tonight, kiddo. Maybe that will help you get a good night's sleep. Besides I don't ever want to get another wake-up call like before ever again."

"Thanks Sonic, you're the best." Tails said as he flashed a smile at Sonic. The hedgehog tried to get into a comfortable position, avoiding stabbing the fox with his quills. When they finally got into a good sleeping post, both Tails and Sonic closed their eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. Tails, subconsciously sensing the hedgehog's protective embrace, slept peacefully that night.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: First flight with a friend

Morning came. Both Tails and Sonic were woken up by the rising sun. Tails was really excited about going to Sonic's house. Even now, Tails had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The prospect of living together with his hero was more than enough to make the kid ecstatic. Tails was very energetic, despite waking up so early in the morning; his tails were waving relentlessly behind him. He couldn't wait for Sonic to get ready.

Sonic didn't need to look at Tails to know how restless the fox was. Just the sound of his footsteps walking around nonstop told Sonic plenty. Getting himself ready, Sonic called Tails and they both got into the Tornado. When Tails was about to climb into the passenger's seat, Sonic stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, kiddo?"

"Huh?" replied Tails, confused about the hedgehog's question. "What do you mean, Sonic? I thought you said we would leave the island today."

Sonic jumped on the Tornado's wing and looked at Tails his usual smile.

"Well, I did say that," said Sonic with a sly grin, "but I never said I'd take you there. YOU are going to fly us there."

"WHAT?" Tails shouted in disbelief. He thought he was hearing things, that his ears might be playing tricks on him, but the look on Sonic's face convinced the confused fox that he had heard him correctly. "I have never flown a real plane before. Furthermore, I don't know where your house is, so how am I supposed to fly us there?" Tails asked Sonic in an attempt to make the hedgehog drop the crazy idea. Unfortunately for the fox, Sonic didn't.

"You can control a submarine, so flying a plane must be a walk in the park for you, right?" Sonic said.

"Are you even listening to yourself, Sonic?" Tails asked as he waved his hands in the air, "Controlling the Sea Fox, a submarine I created myself by the way, is different from piloting a plane. I have never piloted one. I could crash."

"There's always a first time for everything. Besides, if someone like me can fly it, a genius like you must be able to." Tails' jaw dropped as he couldn't believe Sonic's "logic", but he calmed down shortly after. Indeed Tails had never taken control of an aircraft before, so it would be an entirely new experience for the child. Any chance to learn something new was like a dream come true to the curious and studious fox, but in this case, he was scared. Tails feared he might crash Sonic's plane and the hedgehog would hate him for it. The kid couldn't even imagine how he could live with being hated by the only person that had ever showed him kindness. He was about to voice his concern, but Sonic quickly covered his mouth.

"No buts Tails. I trust you. I know you can do this, kiddo." Sonic once again smiled at Tails. The kid knew that there was nothing he could say to make the hedgehog reconsider his decision, so he only nodded.

"If you say so," Tails said at last, "I'll do my best." Sonic then gave him the Tornado's key.

After that, Tails got into the cockpit and began a preliminary check on the systems. Everything was working perfectly. Tails inserted the key and started the engine. After a few seconds, the Tornado was ready to take off, but Tails was once again bewildered by where Sonic was standing.

"Sonic? What are you doing standing on the wing. It's dangerous out there. You should get inside and buckle up."

"Nah, I'm good. I can't stand being cooped up in that tiny hole. Besides, I'm used to the Tornado's speed, so no problemo."

Tails was still worried, but he trusted Sonic. He nervously buckled up and prepared to take off. The Tornado slowly accelerated. A few minutes later, it was already up in the air. Tails had some trouble trying to maintain the plane's balance and altitude, but he managed to do so a few seconds later. Tails almost couldn't believe he had done it. He was flying a plane, a real plane. Tails looked at Sonic briefly and saw the hedgehog's thumbs-up post. Sonic winked at Tails to congratulate the kid on his successful takeoff.

Tails could fly on his own, so he was no stranger to the sensation of flying in the sky. To the fox, flying with his tails gave him freedom. He always loved flying, enjoying the freedom that it brought him. Tails was flying, but this time, he was piloting a plane. He couldn't help but notice how different the experience was. It was thrilling, exhilarating, and completely free. Tails was flying much higher than he ever had. He had never known such freedom existed. It was an amazing feeling.

At the same time, Sonic was having the time of his life. To the speedy hero, freedom was everything. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was really flying as he stood on the Tornado's wing, enjoying the cool wind on his face and quills. Sonic loved that feeling, the soft touch of the wind on his head, the beauty of the land and ocean down below, the unlimited space stretching before him…He simply loved this feeling freedom he was having. Most of all, he knew he could enjoy his freedom to his heart's content, not having to worry about anything, for he was sure the Tornado was in good hands.

"So Tails," Sonic shouted to the kid, "what do you think?"

"It's incredible, Sonic. This is a bazillion times better than flying with my tails." Tails shouted back, his eyes beaming with happiness.

"Good to know. You're doing a very good job buddy. Told you you could fly the Tornado without any problem."

Tails smiled briefly at Sonic before focusing on trying to keep the plane on course. It was the greatest thing that had ever happened to Tails. He was free, unbound by gravity, unrestrained by his sorrows, completely free from the world.

Tails told himself that he would never forget this day; the day of his first flight with his first real friend.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Skirmish in the sky

So far, Tails' first flight had proceeded very smoothly without any complications. Even Sonic, who had been the sole pilot of the Tornado for many years, admitted to himself that Tails was a much better pilot than he was. It had taken Sonic months to master the controls, whereas Tails only required seconds.

"You never cease to amaze me, little buddy." Sonic thought to himself as he looked at the earnest pilot trying his best to keep everything under control.

Both Tails and Sonic were so busy enjoying their newfound freedom that they completely lost track of what was going on behind them. Unbeknownst to Sonic and Tails, a small flying camera, even smaller than T-pup, was following them.

Somewhere far away, a fat man with an elaborate mustache was watching the Tornado's every move closely. An evil grin crept into his face as he looked at the screen. The fat man was, of course, none other than the infamous Dr. Ivo Robotnik, a genius scientist, whose skills could only be matched by his own tenacity.

"Ho ho ho, I've got you now, you filthy rodent." exclaimed Robotnik as he pressed a red button in front of him, deploying a battalion of robots, each armed with state-of-the-art weapons. They headed straight for the Tornado's current coordinates, carrying out their mission of intercepting and destroying Sonic.

Back to the carefree duo, Sonic and Tails, at this point still oblivious to the spying camera and the incoming threats, were still enjoying the breath-taking view from the Tornado.

"Ah," said Sonic as he stretched his arms and back, releasing the tension of standing still for too long. "This is living."

"This is captain Tails speaking. The weather is great today, and there is no sign of it changing for the worse. At this rate, we'll be arriving at our destination in approximately two hours." Tails tried to act his part. He had always wanted to do something like this every once in a while, but he had never got the chance to. Sonic laughed playfully at the kid's attempt to sound mature. Tails noticed, and laughed with Sonic. It was all too amazing for Tails. Laughing, joking, talking to a friend…He had never done it before. However, around Sonic, Tails felt he could be himself. All was well until T-pup's radar picked up something.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know. T-pup's radar has just picked up something. I'll see if I can get a visual." Tails then plugged T-pup into the Tornado's display screen that he had installed. After a while, he finally got a visual, but it was one that made him gasp in shock and fear.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled at the top of his lung, fear could clearly be heard from his tone, and Sonic noticed. "There are about a thousand of robots coming right at us. They have guns…really big guns."

"Robotnik!" Sonic said angrily. "Who else but him has the audacity to pull something like this."

"What do we do, Sonic?" Tails asked him, his voice shaky. The kid was clearly scared. Sure he was a decent fighter, but he had never fought while piloting a plane before.

"For the time being, step on it and see if we can shake them off. Knowing Buttnik, he is only after me this time."

Tails nodded and did as Sonic had told him. He sped up and reached top speed, trying to get away from the approaching menaces. However, Tails soon found out that the robots were gaining on them, despite the Tornado's top speed. The robots were equipped with powerful boosters created by Robotnik himself, and they could easily catch up with the Tornado.

"Sonic, it's no use. They're still hot on our tail."

"Well then," Sonic said as he cracked his fingers and started warming up, still mindful about where he was. "If we can't shake them off, we'll knock them off. " He turned to Tails and said to the kid, "Tails, prepare yourself."

"Huh?" Tails asked, surprised and shocked. He knew what Sonic was implying, but that didn't mean he liked the idea of taking a horde of menacing and murderous robots head-on.

"Don't worry Tails." Sonic said to the whimpering kid when he noticed the child's discomfort. "I promise I'll protect you. Trust me."

Tails, still somewhat afraid, looked at Sonic's sincere eyes and gentle smile. Sonic hadn't lied to him ever since the day they met, so Tails had no reason to start doubting the hedgehog now. After thinking for a while, Tails nodded his head and began to turn the Tornado around firmly, heading straight for the battalion of robots.  
"Bring it on, bolt brains." shouted both Sonic and Tails simultaneously. The mid-air battle began.

When the Tornado was within shooting range, Robotnik's robots unloaded their arsenal and started shooting with everything they had. The vicious assault would be the death of any pilot, but not Tails. The genius fox quickly ascended and avoided the projectiles. After that, Tails descended and used the force of gravity to speed up even more. The robots didn't even have the time to compute and strategize their next moves. A few seconds later, Tails was within shooting range and started shooting down any robot in his path with the Tornado's newly added weapons.

"Wow!" Sonic said after whistling in amazement at the kid's expert skills and the Tornado's weapons. "I didn't know the Tornado had missiles."

"Courtesy of the Sea Fox." Said Tails proudly, knowing that he had made a right decision in incorporating his former's partner weaponry into the Tornado. After seeing the familiar thumbs-up, Sonic gave him, Tails smiled in delight and got back to the business at hand.

Soon, the Tornado was surrounded by robots everywhere. When they were about to shoot, Sonic, however, beat them to the trigger. He quickly jumped up and unleashed his trademark spin dash attack.

Sonic hit one robot and continued bouncing on the other, destroying all of them in a matter of seconds. Since the robots were all preprogrammed to annihilate Sonic alone, they followed their priority, completely oblivious to the Tornado and its pilot. Sonic immediately realized this fact as he noticed the way the robots ignored Tails, and so did the fox. Sonic looked at Tails and simply nodded like they had read each other's mind. Sonic then continued bouncing; destroying as many robots as he possibly could while distracting the other robots at the same time, giving Tails the time to shoot them down.

It was going well until Tails realized that he had run out of missiles. Having seen the Tornado's systems before, the fox knew full well that the Tornado was also well-arm with its own weaponries. He pushed a button and revealed the Tornado's hidden machine guns. Tails continued his relentless assault, aiming on taking down as many robots as he could, all the while covering for Sonic. When Sonic spotted the Tornado right below him, he quickly jumped down and landed on top of its wing to catch his breath.

"Now where did you get the machine guns, Tails?" Sonic asked with surprise in his voice.

"What?" Tails asked back, "You mean you don't even know that your own plane is equipped with weapons?"

"Well…" Sonic said as he scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed that he had never known about the machine guns, but he tried to hide it. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Continue shooting Tails, we can win this." Sonic then jumped up and repeated his attack patterns, blowing up more robots in his path.

"Roger that." said Tails as he did what Sonic had just told him.

On the ground, everybody could clearly see the explosions in the sky as the battle raged. Back to the battle, the robots had recognized Tails as a threat to their mission and started shooting at the Tornado. Sonic jumped on top of one robot and used its weapons to take out the others. At the same time, Tails took advantage of the enemies' homing missiles to destroy his persistent pursuers. The fox performed perfectly timed aerial maneuvers to dodge the robots' attacks and counterattacked with deadly precision. Even in the midst of the chaos, Sonic noticed how amazing Tails' piloting skills were. The fox had never failed to impress the speedy hero thus far. Looking at the Tornado, a grin spread across Sonic's muzzle as he knew he had made the right decision to take Tails with him.

Despite being greatly overpowered by sheer number and firepower, Sonic and Tails managed to fend off the menacing robots with relative ease. Sonic's well-honed instincts coupled with Tails' accurate shots made short work of the enemies. Soon after, the battle was over, and the two friends had won. The once malicious battalion was reduced to nothing more than scrap metals as they fell to the ocean below.

"We did it?" Tails whispered, still not believing they had won.

"We sure did, buddy." Sonic said from the Tornado's wing. "You were amazing Tails. I thought you said you had never flown a plane before?"

"I did say that. I don't know how…must be because I have a good teacher." Tails said happily as he looked at Sonic, who was smiling at the child's comment.

"Come on , Tails, I only taught you how to work the controls, not how to fly like a pro." Sonic remarked. "Give yourself some credit buddy. You were amazing."

"Thanks Sonic." Tails said as his face became red. He couldn't handle compliments very well.

Sonic and Tails were about to resume course back to Sonic's house, but something happened that made Tails drop the idea. The Tornado sustained some minor damage in the heat of the battle, and the fuel tank was almost empty.

"Sonic, I don't think we can reach your house with the little fuel we have left. We need to land the Tornado and refuel."

"It can't be helped then, but where do you plan on landing, the only island I can see from up here is…" Sonic was about to say the island's name, but stopped immediately.

"Westside Island…" Tails finished Sonic's sentence. He honestly did not want to go back to the island so soon. I fact, he never wanted to return at all. The memories of that place were still lingering inside his head. Sonic saw how sad Tails sounded when he spoke the name, but he couldn't do anything. He cursed his inability to comfort the distressed kid.

"Don't worry Tails, remember I'm here with you." Sonic said in an attempt to cheer the young pilot up. To his relief, Tails smiled at him. After that, the fox made his way back to Westside Island.

"Ah Sonic?" Tails called out to the hedgehog when they were near the ground.

"What's up, buddy?"

"Did you teach me how to land the Tornado?" asked Tails as he looked at Sonic with his eyes wide open.

"Oops…" was all that Sonic could say. The Tornado headed straight for the ground. Tails quickly pressed any button he could find. Fortunately, the landing gears opened and the Tornado landed roughly on the ground. When the Tornado halted to a complete stop, Sonic fell from the wing and fell face-first into a small pond below, much to his dismay.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked frantically from the cockpit.

Sonic, whose face was still in the pond, gave Tails a thumbs-up in response, an action that Tails found both reassuring and hilarious. He giggled softly. After a while, Sonic got up. Tails picked T-pup up and jumped out of the cockpit and began to scan the surroundings.

"Great job on your first flight Tails," said Sonic happily as he patted the child's shoulder, "but the landing part could use some work." Tails' face turned slightly red at the comment and nodded. After that, the duo looked around them, only to be greeted by unfamiliar scenery.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: A new adventure, a new sidekick

Sonic and Tails found themselves in a meadow. Everywhere they looked, they were greeted by the lush forests, the verdant grass and numerous species of flowers. Far away, they could see a lot of coconut palm trees and great hills. The idyllic waterfalls cascaded amidst the emerald paradise, adding more to the beauty of the place. Sonic and Tails were taken aback by how mesmerizing its beauty was. To Sonic, such beauty could only be compared to, or rivaled by, Green Hill Zone in Southern Island, a place where he frequently visited in his numerous adventures. To a lover of nature, Sonic felt like he was in heaven.

Tails also enjoyed the sight before him. He had never witnessed such beauty. Coco Island was very beautiful, but it still paled in comparison. The primary green of the grass and trees, the tranquil azure of the sky and water, the scattered scarlet of the flowers, and the shimmering gold of the beaches far away all blended together, creating a perfect image, so perfect was the image that no word could ever do it justice.

"Wow," Tails exclaimed, still amazed by the scene before him, "this place is incredible."

"You said it, buddy." said Sonic, "So, any idea where we are, Tails?"

Sonic's words broke Tails out of his mesmerized state and brought him back to reality.

"Give me a sec." said Tails as he pressed some buttons on T-pup's body. After a few seconds, a three dimensional screen appeared and pinpointed their current location.

"According to the GPS, we are in a place called Emerald Hill Zone. It's on the shores of Westside Island."

"So we are far from civilization huh?"

"Yeah, very far…thank goodness." Tails muttered the last two words in his breath to keep Sonic from overhearing him. Sonic, however, heard the fox, but decided not to press the issue. Tails needed time, and Sonic was more than willing to give Tails all the time he needed.

"How are we supposed to find a place to refuel the Tornado then?" asked Sonic, trying to change the subject.

"Well, with your speed, we can run to the nearest city to get some fuel. There's a factory near this place, so we only need to go there and hopefully, the people there are generous enough to give us a helping hand. For the time being, I think we should leave the Tornado here."

"Unprotected and alone, nuh-uh, I don't think so Tails."

"I never said leave the Tornado alone, Sonic. I have an idea." After that, Tails turned off the screen and told T-pup to go near the Tornado.

"Alright, T-pup, show Sonic what you can do." said Tails cheerfully. At that command, a lightning pole poked out from the back of the mechanical fox's back and generated a protective barrier around him and the Tornado. Tails looked at Sonic proudly, while Sonic whistled in surprise at the sight.

"Nifty" was all that Sonic could say. Once again, Tails had managed to impress the very-hard-to-impress hedgehog. With the Tornado safe and sound behind the barrier, Sonic and Tails dashed off and headed for the aforementioned factory without worry.

Along the way, however, Sonic and Tails soon skidded to a stop when they saw something they really didn't want to see: more of Robotnik's robots.

"Oh great, "Sonic exclaimed at the sight of the robots, "more of his badniks."

The bee-like badniks spotted Sonic and tried to attack him, but as usual, they failed miserably. Despite their number, Sonic made short work of them. Tails watched in awe at the carnage that was left behind.

"That was amazing, Sonic." said Tails with glee and excitement. The fox could never get tired of seeing Sonic in action. Sonic, at the kid's comment, flashed him a smile and another thumbs-up. However, unbeknownst to the conceited hero, one bee was still functioning. Sonic had done a good job, but it was not a thorough one. Without warning, the bee flew at Sonic with its stinger ready. Tails noticed the threat. Immediately, Tails copied Sonic's spin dash attack and smashed the bee and surprised the unsuspected hedgehog at the same time.

"How…When did you learn how to use the spin dash?" asked Sonic, still surprised that the fox had saved him from a painful sting with his own attack.

"Well, I've seen you use that move for the hundredth time, so I thought I could use it. I'm a really fast learner, after all." said Tails as he made no attempt to hide his pride at what he had just done.

"That you are, Tails." Sonic then extended his knuckle and gave Tails a bro-fist. After that moment of joy, Sonic looked at the remains of badnik.

"So, Butt-nik is up to his own tricks again huh." said Sonic. "When you said there was a possibility of him planning an invasion, you were right Tails."

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to stop him again, won't you Sonic?"

"You mean we'll have to stop him." Sonic said firmly as he looked at the dumbfounded Tails. "You have helped me a lot, and I think I'm going to need a hand this time." Sonic paused for a while before continuing, "so what do you say Tails? Want to come with me and kick a mad man's ass?"

A big smile formed on Tails' face when he heard Sonic's invitation. Tails immediately hugged the hedgehog, careful not to choke him like before, and thanked him profusely. Sonic patted the kid's head and smiled gently at him. After Tails had calmed down from his little outburst, Sonic looked the fox's eyes, which were beaming with happiness and joy.

"Ready to go, partner?" said Sonic.

"Ready when you are." replied Tails eagerly.

After that, both Tails and Sonic broke the sound barrier and sped off. Soon, they became a blur of blue and yellow as they raced through the zone. Along the way Sonic glanced back at Tails and saw the kid was right flying behind him, his namesakes whirling vigorously in the air. The speedy hedgehog couldn't help but smile at the sight of the kid trying his best to keep up.

"Let's go Tails." said Sonic happily, to which Tails replied "I'm right behind you." No word could describe how happy Sonic was. After travelling and fighting Robotnik alone for many years, he had finally found a companion who could keep up with him, a friend to whom he could relate.

From a chance meeting, the two strangers bonded and became friends; and from a few small adventures, the friends became partners in their quest against evil. Sonic looked back at Tails, who was still behind him, and smiled happily. Tails in return smiled at Sonic and the dynamic duo sped up, knocking down any obstacles they came across. Together Sonic and Tails overcame every challenge and threat presented to them. Sonic would always be there to protect Tails, while Tails would always be there to back Sonic up. And thus, the unbreakable bond was formed, a friendship that would last until the end of time was shaped, and the beginning of their meeting came to a conclusion, and their adventures together have only just begun.

THE END


End file.
